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History 



f the 



ot the 



One Hundred and r ortieth Kegiment 
Pennsylvania Volunteers 



BY 



PROFESSOR ROBERT LAIRD STEWART, D.D. 

HISTORIAN 



PL) BUSHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE 
REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION 

1912 



,' 












Copyrighted 1912 

by 

WILLIAM S. SHALLENBERGER 

Chairman t'ub. Com. 



t 



©0.A32885* ft 



Dedicated to the memory of 
our comrades who died in the 
bloom of their young manhood 

beforf the morning came; and 
to ///o.w who have since finished 
their earthly course, after enjoy 
ing for awhile the priceless 
privileges for which they con 
tended in the days that tried 
men's souls. 




Hon. Wm. S. Shallenberger, Chairman Publication Committee. 

Rev. John R. Paxton, D.D. Lieut.-Col. Thus. Henry. 

Prof. Robt. Laird Stewart. !).!>.. Historian. 

Harry J. Boyde, Secretarj Reg'mental Association. 



FOREWORD. 



In the preparation of this work, which was authorized by the 
Regimental Association a year ago, no pains have been spared to 
make it an accurate, concise and readable history. In addition to the 
material accumulated from official records in the War Department 
and Congressional Library, many interesting facts and war-time inci- 
dents have been gleaned from local newspaper files, from note books 
kept by comrades, and from letters, brown with age and sometimes 
scarcely legible, which were written to the homefolk, in the camp, 
on the picket line or on the battlefield. In the verification of uncer- 
tain statements, the systematically conducted search for additional in- 
formation, and the accumulation of material of every sort, the author 
has had the hearty support and invaluable assistance of his associates 
on the Historical Committee. 

With General Shallenberger, Chairman of the Publication Com- 
mittee, wise in council, sane in judgment and unwearied in his devo- 
tion to the "dear old Regiment," at the Headquarters of official infor- 
mation, and with the Secretary of the Association, Harry J. Boyde, 
at its Headquarters in Western Pennsylvania, the writer has been in 
almost constant communication. Most generously and unselfishly 
have these comrades responded to every demand for additional assis- 
tance or information, which was made upon their time or patience. 

Not less of honor and grateful appreciation should be accorded 
also to Dr. John R. Paxton of the Committee, whose generous initia- 
tive has made the publication of the book a possibility, in a style 
worthy of the noble Regiment, whose achievements it records, and 
to Major Henry who gave his cordial assent to the plans of the His- 
torian, and who, in the intervals between periods of extreme suffer- 
ing, and but a short time before his death, dictated valuable informa- 
tion for his use. 

With the sanction of the committee this volume goes forth on its 
mission, in the hope that it may worthily revive the stirring memories 
of the past and help to kindle anew the fires of patriotism which 
burned so brightly in the dark days of civil strife. 



HISTORY 

OF THE 

One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment 
Pennsylvania Volunteers 



CHAPTER I. 



ENLISTMENT ORGANIZATION — EQUIPMENT. 

All the uniforms were blue, all the swords were bright and 
new, 
When the Regiment went marching down the street. 
All the men were hale and strong as they proudly moved 
along, 
Through the cheers that drowned the music of their feet. 
Oh, the music of the feet keeping times to drums that beat, 

Oh the splendor and the glitter of the sight, 
As with swords and rifles new and in uniforms of blue, 
The Regiment went marching to the fight. 

Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 

THE One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment of Pennsyl- 
vania Volunteers was recruited and hastily equipped 
for service in one of the darkest hours in the history 
of the Civil War. 

The disastrous campaign on the Peninsula of Virginia, 
in the series of desperate conflicts which had been fought in 
the vicinity of Richmond, opened up the way for a direct 
advance of the Confederate Army upon Washington City. 



THE ONE HUXDRED AXD FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Its defenceless condition at this time, and for several 
weeks following-, was a matter of grave concern to President 
Lincoln and his Cabinet. 

The Army of the Potomac, which should have been its 
safeguard, was far away from the line of attack, and power- 
less to repel the forces which threatened it. 

In this emergency the President issued a call for 300.000 
volunteers. As the situation became more acute, the loya! 
men of the Nation were aroused as never before, to a sense 
of impending peril and the necessity for prompt and vigorous 
effort to avert it. 

On the J 1st oi July, Governor Curtin. the alert and 
intensely loyal "War Governor" of Pennsylvania, issued a 
proclamation authorizing the immediate enlistment o\ twenty- 
one new regiments of volunteer infantry, to serve for three 
years or during the war! 

At a notable public meeting, held on the West Common 
of Allegheny City, three days later, the Governor prefaced an 
impassioned appeal in behalf of the Union cause with three 
blunt, startling sentences : 

"The Peninsula campaign is a failure!" "The Union 
armies haze not been victorious!" "They have been driven 
back to the gates of Washington, notwithstanding all reports 
to the contrary f 

These humiliating facts, uttered with great deliberation 
in the presence of an assemblage of more than 1 5,001) persons. 
made a profound impression and prepared the way. as no 
overwrought, optimistic statement could have done, ior the 
thrilling appeals which followed. On this memorable occa- 
sion, addresses t>\ rare eloquence, pathos and power were 
made bv the venerable chairman, Judge William W'ilkins. 
ex-Governor Johnson. Judge McCandless, Hon. Thomas M. 
Marshall, Hon. John R. Hampton. Dr. Samuel J. Wilson, 
Professor in the Western Theological Seminary, and other 
notable speakers and leaders o\ the people. The spirit of this 
meeting was as contagious as it was enthusiastic. Its appeals, 
sent out through its representatives, and the reports of the 
dailv papers, made a like impression throughout the whole of 



ENLISTMENT— ORGANIZATION— EQUIPMENT 3 

the western portion of the State. In every village and district 
and hamlet of this loyal and law-abiding section mass meet- 
ings, addressed by able and eloquent speakers, were held; 
pledges of loyalty were renewed ; money was freely subscribed ; 
recruiting offices were opened ; and, with shrill of fife and roll 
of drum, the newly gathered bands of volunteers went about 
the streets. 

About two weeks after Abraham Lincoln had issued his 
call for volunteers, Mr. John S. Gibbons, of New York City, 
wrote the words of the familiar song, "We are coming. 
Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more." The author 
of this stirring lyric, says his friend James H. Morse, "was 
a Hicksite Quaker with a reasonable leaning, however, toward 
wrath in cases of emergency." The words of the song were 
published in the New York Evening Post of July 16th, and 
the next evening were read by Josiah Quincy at a large meet- 
ing held in Boston, the authorship being attributed to the 
poet Bryant. It was set to music and sung by the Hutchinson 
family with telling effect. It fell in at once with the sentiment 
of the hour and perhaps did more in the way of securing 
recruits and of "bringing the uprising it declared" than all 
the fervid appeals that were uttered by orator or statesman. 
"From Mississippi's winding stream and from New England's 
shore" thousands of marching battalions, and newly gathered 
companies of raw recruits took up the grand refrain, "We 
are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more." 
There were sore hearts at this time among the fathers and 
mothers, the sisters and sweethearts of the young men who 
were available for active service in all these places; but they 
could not say nay to the earnest pleadings of those who were 
burdened with the conviction that their time had come to 
join the ranks of the country's defenders. 

There were but few of the rank and file who responded 
to the call to arms, at this time, who were carried away by 
the pomp and glamour of military life, or who anticipated a 
speedy ending to the struggle which had already proved so 
disastrous to our arms. With many a bright young man the 
act of enlistment meant the giving up of prospects which for 



4 THE OX E HI'. X. AND FORTIETH RE< NT 

years had stimulated him to study and self-denial. It meant 
the relinquishment oi the advantages and amenities of home 
and society; the surrender oi personal liberty to the arbitrary 
rule or tickle caprice of some whipper-snapper of an officer, 

who might at any time be placed over him. It meant certain 
exposure to peril, hardship and suffering; and. perchance, to 
an early death in the hospital, prison pen or on the field oi 
battle. Over against all these things, which were not lightly 
regarded, were the interests, for all time, of the imperilled 
country, the degradation and dismemberment of its tlag, and 
the clear, unmistakable call to duty, heard in every drum beat 
and voiced insistently in every form of public appeal and 
proclamation. Moved by such considerations it is not strange 
that love of country dominated every other influence and in 
the end prevailed. 

"It is difficult at this time."' says General Francis A. 
Walker, historian of the Second Corps, "it was difficult even 
in 1805, to go back to the sentiments and feelings which 
moved the citizen soldiery of 1861-iSeo. before custom had 
staled the ideas of patriotic sacrifice and martial glory; 
before long delays and frequent disappointments had robbed 
war of its romance; before the curse of conscription had 
come, to make the uniform a thing of doubtful honor, anil to 
substitute the "bounty jumper' for the generous volunteer; 
while yet all the soldiers in the field were those who sprang 
to arms in that great uprising of a free people." 

With few exceptions the volunteer soldiery of Western 
Pennsylvania were remarkable for their intelligence ami an 
exceptionally high standard of manhood and morality. They 
were the choicest representatives oi the village and com- 
munity; of the otYice and shop: of the school and farm; of the 
college and church. 

The several companies which made up the complement of 
the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment were recruited in 
four of the counties on the western border line of the State, 
viz. : Washington, Greene. Reaver and Mercer. The volun- 
teers who flocked to their standards were, with few excep- 
tions, from the rural districts; were in the same rank and 



ENLISTMENT— ORGANIZATION— EQUIPMENT 5 

circumstances of life, and readily affiliated with each other 
in the new relationships and experiences incident to army life 
and discipline. 

There were worthy representatives of the German and 
Irish settlements of this region in all of the companies, but 
for the most part the recruits which made up the rank and 
file of the Regiment were descendants of the sturdy, God- 
fearing, Scotch-Irish race. With few exceptions, also, they 
were boys in years, with all the exuberance and not a little 
of the indiscretion of youth; but deep down in heart and life 
there were veins of serious thought, and solid, unshaken con- 
victions concerning truth and duty. And, when the hour of 
decision came, they went to the front with as sublime courage 
and as steadfast confidence in the orderings of God's prov- 
idence as the Ironsides of Cromwell or the defenders of the 
Covenant in Scotland. 

A characteristic incident illustrative of this type of our 
citizen soldiery, and also of many similar experiences in those 
never to be forgotten days of tense feeling and prompt deci- 
sion, has been preserved among the records of the company 
recruited in Greene county — Company A — of the regimental 
organization. The manuscript from which we quote was 
written by Professor James C. Burns, of Macomb, Illinois, 
a younger brother of John A. Burns, one of the recruits, to a 
daughter of this comrade, after her father's death: 

When the President's call was issued your father lacked 
one day of being nineteen years of age. At the time of the 
call he was a Freshman in Waynesburg College. Without 
consulting his father or mother he enlisted, packed his books 
and his clothing, and came home. How well I remember the 
day. I was a lad of eleven years. Father was plowing corn 
at tbe upper end of the farm and I was playing under a 
service tree. At ten o'clock the dinner horn blew. "Some- 
thing is wrong at the house," said father; and, unhitching 
the horse, we went home. As we nearcd the house my 
mother, with restless step and tearful eye, came out to meet 
us. "John has enlisted," she said. Going into the house, we 
found him there with J. J. Purman, a fellow student, who 
had taught our district school the winter before. Securing: 



6 THE ONE HUNDRED AXD FORTIETH REGIMENT 

horses from my father, they rode over the township, soliciting 
and urging other young men to enlist. They secured a dozen 
or more. * * * One summer morning about the last of 
July, these recruits assembled at our house to leave for the 
front. Many friends came with them. The parting was a 
sad one. I can see them even now, and feel the same 
swelling in the throat that I felt that July morning as I saw 
these men clamber into the two-horse wagons, father driving 
one of them, to be driven to Waynesburg. Here they were 
joined by eighty or ninety more men from other parts of the 
county. 

From fragments of realistic experiences such as these 
we get the inner history — the real history — of the war for the 
preservation of the Union. This student-lad of nineteen, who 
could not wait to come home before pledging his young life 
to the service of the imperilled country, became one of the 
most efficient officers in his company bringing the remnant of 
it home, after the war had ended, with the well deserved rank 
of Captain. Like many of his comrades in the Regiment, 
whose studies had been interrupted by the war. Captain Burns 
returned to college and after graduation in the usual course 
of theological study, entered the ministry. In this service, 
which became the joy of his life, he fought the good fight 
under direction of the great Captain of his salvation and, at 
length, in peace and confident assurance finished his earthly 
course and was summoned to his rest and reward. His college 
friend, Mr. Purman. with whom he sallied forth in the hunt 
for recruits on that memorable July day, was made First Lieu- 
tenant at the organization of the company, and, at Gettysburg, 
where he was twice wounded, lost a leg. For bravery and 
meritorious conduct in that battle he received a Congressional 
medal. 

Washington County, which had at this time two notable 
colleges within its bounds, contributed five of the companies 
which made up the regimental organization. At the county 
seat, which was also the seat of Washington College, a fine 
company was recruited by David Acheson, a student of the 
College at the outbreaking of the war. and two friends — 
Isaac Vance and Charles Linton — who had been associated 



EN LI ST MEN T—ORGA NIZ. i TION—EQ U IP MEN T 7 

with him during a three months' term of service in the Twelfth 
Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

At the date of its organization, Acheson was elected Cap- 
tain and his comrades were made its First and Second Lieu- 
tenants. It was not distinctively a college company, but the 
undergraduates and alumni of the College furnished a goodly 
number of its best members and most efficient officers. Cap- 
tain Acheson was killed at the head of his company on the 
second day of July at Gettysburg. He was at this time the 
ranking captain of the Regiment. A man of fine physique 
and of rare nobility of character, he was greatly beloved by 
all who knew him. His First Lieutenant, Isaac Vance, lost 
his left hand in the same engagement. 

Another company, known in the regimental organization 
as Company "G," was recruited at Canonsburg, the seat of 
Jefferson College, by Professor John Fraser. He was assisted 
in organizing the company by two alumni of the College, 
Wilson N. Paxton and William H. H. Bingham. Bingham 
was afterward promoted to the rank of Brevet Brigadier-Gen- 
eral and for many years was member of Congress from the 
First District of Pennsylvania, and "father of the House." 

As originally constituted all the commissioned officers of 
the company, with one exception, and a large proportion of 
the rank and file were then, or had been connected with this 
College. The farewell service on the morning of the depar- 
ture of the company — who that was present can ever forget 
it — was held in the college chapel. When a little remnant of 
its survivors returned, nearly three years later, a royal welcome 
was accorded them in the same sacred place of assembly. 
Thus it will be seen that in the gathering of the One Hundred 
and Fortieth Regiment three colleges were represented. It 
should be noted also that the companies which were recruited 
outside these college towns had, together with a fair propor- 
tion of men of college training, an unusually large force of 
alert, intelligent and resourceful men who had been trained 
for business careers or in other schools of mental development 
and activity. 

The following quotation from an address made by the 



S THE ONE HUNDRED AS'D FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Hon. A. A. Purman at Waynesburg, Pa., October, 1887, on 
the occasion of the annual reunion of the Regiment, gives an 
inside view of the steps which were taken to affect the con- 
solidation of these independent companies. For that reason, 
as well as for its kindly words of appreciation, it should have 
a place in this record : 

The struggle to form the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Regiment out of companies from Washington, Beaver and 
Greene Counties was spirited, requiring a hasty journey of 
Captain Fraser to Beaver to see Colonel Roberts, and tele- 
graphic correspondence between Roberts and Governor 
Curtin, ending with the kind words of Governor Curtin and 
the answer that these companies should be formed into one 
regiment. 

The effort to form these companies into one regiment 
was because of the homogeneity of the men composing the 
companies. They were all young men, either from the plow, 
or the mechanic's shop, the store counter or the college halls. 
* * * What a glorious Regiment it was ! What noble 
men composed it, and how nobly the men who have survived 
the conflicts of battle and the struggles of the camp and the 
field have since borne themselves in all the walks of life. 

The three companies from Beaver County, known after- 
wards as F, H and I, were mustered into the service of the 
United States August 21, 1862, on the public square in front 
of the Court House in the town of Beaver by Captain Thomas 
H. Norton, of the regular army. "Norton/' says Major 
Henry, "had a tine presence and a rich melodious voice, and 
the oath was administered in a most impressive manner. This 
was on the ground where the soldier's monument now stands, 
and it has become historic." 

The companies from Washington County were ordered 
to Camp Howe, near Pittsburgh, as soon as their organiza- 
tions were completed. Here each man in turn was carefully 
examined — in puris natural ibis — by a surgeon of the army, 
and those who were regarded as physically unfit for the 
demands of the service were dropped from the rolls. The 
men who were accepted were then mustered as a body into the 
service. As each company stood at attention the oath was read 



ENLISTMENT— ORG A NIZA TION—EQUIPMEN T g 

by an army officer, appointed for that purpose, and every man 
with uplifted hand swore allegiance and loyalty to the Gov- 
ernment and the flag. From that moment the raw recruit 
became a soldier in the army of the United States, subject to 
the will of his superior officers and pledged to obey their com- 
mands in the battle line or at the cannon's mouth. 

In keeping with this new relation he laid aside the garb 
of the citizen for the livery of the Nation's defenders. To 
facilitate this transfer of garments a tailor from the Quarter- 
master's Department measured each man of the company ; and 
then, from the stock of ready made clothing- on hand, selected 
such pieces as in his judgment appeared to be the nearest to 
his record of measurements. It goes without saying, that 
some of the recipients of these "ready mades" presented a 
very ludicrous appearance as the result of this apportionment. 
Jn some cases, exchanges were made to advantage with com- 
rades and in others direct appeals to the Quartermaster, on 
orders from the company commanders, resulted in the issue 
of a iarger supply from which to make selections. Those who 
could not be "suited" in either of these ways, were obliged to 
make alterations ae their own expense; or to be content with 
a decision which virtually amounted to "Hobson's choice." 

The outfit provided by the Government for the rank and 
file in those days consisted of a dark blue blouse, light blue 
trousers, a smart looking frock coat with brass buttons for 
dress parade and special occasions, a woolen or mixed wool 
and cotton shirt, a suit of underwear, a forage cap, stout 
broad-soled shoes and a blue overcoat with heavy cape. While 
in this camp the men of the "awkward squad" took their first 
lessons in wheeling and facing, saluting and marking time. 
Guard mounting, company drill and guard duty occupied the 
remaining part of the time which, weather permitting, was 
allotted to drill and discipline. 

Our stay in this rendezvous camp was suddenly cut short 
by the arrival of marching orders. In pursuance of the in- 
structions given we left Pittsburgh on the evening of Septem- 
ber 4th and arrived at Camp Curtin in the forenoon of the 
next day. Here we received a supply of A tents and at once 



io THE ONE HL'.XDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMEN f 

entered upon the routine of camp life. On the Sabbath fol- 
lowing-, the company recruited by Professor Fraser, of Jeffer- 
son College, was invited to attend the morning service of the 
Pine Street Presbyterian Church. This invitation came 
through the pastor, the Rev. Dr. William C. Cattell, a warm, 
personal friend of Captain Fraser, 

After much washing and scrubbing, we donned our dress 
uniforms and falling into line at the hour appointed, marched 
away to the church. We expected to be shown to reserved 
seats somewhere in the rear of the building, or perchance in 
the gallery, but to our great surprise, were marched to the 
front pews of the middle block. Opening the hymn book on 
the rack before him, the writer saw on its title page the name 
of its owner — Simon Cameron — who was then serving his 
country as the Secretary of War in the cabinet of Abraham 
Lincoln. 

It is an interesting fact that one of the young soldiers of 
this company, John R. Paxton, an undergraduate of Jefferson 
College, became, within a little more than a decade following 
this service, the pastor of the Church which had so cordially 
invited us to this service. Little did the good doctor, who 
addressed us that morning, dream that one of the boys in 
blue before him, a private of the rank and file, should be his 
successor in that pulpit ; should be famous all over the land for 
his brilliant gifts and unique modes of exxpression; and at 
length, should go to places of still higher position and influ- 
ence at the capital of the Nation and in New York City, where 
presidents and congressmen, generals of the army, judges of 
the Supreme Court, and millionaires of note would be his 
hearers and supporters. 

By the consolidation of the companies already mentioned, 
the regimental organization was consummated on the eighth 
day of September and received the official designation of the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment of Pennsylvania Vol- 
unteers. Its companies, in conformity to army regulations, 
were then designated by letters. The position in the line as 
originally indicated was A, F, 1), T. C. H, E, K, G, B. At 







COLi »NEL RICHARD P. ROBERTS. 



ENLISTMENT— ORGANIZATION— EQUIPMENT n 

a later date this order was changed.* Companies A and B 
were from Greene and Mercer counties respectively; Com- 
panies C, D, E, G, and K, from Washington County and 
F. H and I from Beaver. 

The field officers chosen at the date of the regimental 
organization were Richard P. Roberts, of Beaver County, 
Colonel; Captain John Fraser, of Washington County, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel: Captain Thomas B. Rodgers, of Mercer 
County, Major. 

The staff appointments were: First Sergeant, William S. 
Shallenberger, of Company F. Adjutant; Dr. John Wishart, 
Surgeon; Drs. W. W. Sharpe and Benj. F. Barrah, Assistant 
Surgeons; Rev. Marcus Ormond, Captain of Company H, 
Chaplain: and Samuel B. Bently, Quartermaster. 

The line officers at date of organization were as follows : 

Company A — Captain. John F. McCullough ; First Lieu- 
tenant, James J. Purman ; Second Lieutenant, David Taylor. 

Company B — Captain, J. T. Giebner; First Lieutenant, 
Abram C. Grove ; Second Lieutenant, George Tanner. 

Company C — Captain. David Acheson; First Lieutenant, 
Isaac N. Vance ; Second Lieutenant, Charles L. Linton. 

Company D — Captain, Silas Parker ; First Lieutenant, 
Tames Mamon; Second Lieutenant. Matthias Minton. 

Company E — Captain, Aaron Gregg; First Lieutenant, 
Thomas A. Stone ; Second Lieutenant, Irwin F. Sansom. 

Company F — Captain, Thomas Henry ; First Lieutenant, 
John B. Stokes ; Second Lieutenant. Alex. H. Calvert. 

Company G — Captain, H. H. Bingham : First Lieuten- 
ant, Wilson N. Paxton ; Second Lieutenant. Joseph W. Mc- 
Ewen. 

Company H — Captain, Samuel Campbell : First Lieuten- 
ant, Austin Miller ; Second Lieutenant, John B. Vance. 

Company I — Captain, James Darrah ; First Lieutenant, 
Wm. McCallister ; Second Lieutenant, George A. Shallen- 
berger. 

Company K — Captain, W. A. F. Stockton : First Lieu- 

*For date and order of change see page 68. 



12 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

tenant, Alex. Sweeney; Second Lieutenant, Wm. B. Cook. 

On the ninth of September, the day following the organ- 
ization of the Regiment, marching orders were received and 
instant preparations were made, as we supposed, for a move 
to the front. Knapsacks, haversacks, muskets and cartridge 
boxes were furnished promptly to each company. Forty 
rounds of cartridge per man were also issued, and, with no 
little excitement and wonderment as to what the future had 
in store for us, we took our first lessons in "packing up." To 
our great disappointment, we were furnished with antiquated 
"Vincennes" muskets, heavy and cumbrous to handle, with 
sabre bayonets, which hung in broad scabbards by our sides. 
We were assured that some day these awkward weapons 
would be exchanged for brand new Springfield rifles, but this 
assurance was not made good until some four months later. 

On the evening of the 9th, we left Camp Curtin in com- 
pany with the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, 
and marched to the station of the Northern Central Railway. 
The One Hundred and Forty-eighth, which was thus thrown 
into close relations with our Regiment for the first time, was 
ever afterward, — until the war closed, — within hailing dis- 
tance of it in camp, on the march, and on the battlefield. It 
was in touch with the One Hundred and Fortieth for three 
months of service on the line of the Northern Central Rail- 
way; it marched with it in the beginning of the winter to the 
Rappahannock from Washington City; and during its entire 
service with the Army of the Potomac, was in the same divi- 
sion of the Second Corps. Its young and sprightly Com- 
mander, James A. Beaver, was a personal friend of Lieutenant- 
Colonel John Fraser who had been the favorite professor 
of his college days, and there were many among the rank and 
file of each regiment who had much in common and readily 
affiliated together. The One Hundred and Forty-eighth 
ranked as one of the best drilled regiments in the volunteer 
service, and had a splendid record for service at the front in 
the famous Division to which it belonged. 

The train which had been engaged for our transportation 
was not at the railwav station when we arrived, and no one 



ENLISTMENT— ORGANIZATION— EQUIPMENT 13 

seemed to know when it might be expected. After waiting 
for two or three hours by the side of the road, we unrolled our 
blankets and disposed ourselves as best we could on the 
ground for rest and sleep. About four o'clock in the morning 
the belated train appeared. We boarded it at once without 
any knowledge of our destination except the apparent fact 
that we were heading towards Baltimore. In the afternoon, 
about two o'clock, the train came to a stop at Parkton Station 
in Maryland, where to our great surprise, we were ordered to 
leave it and fall into line by the roadside. After a short 
period of rest in a dusty field, we were marched to a position 
on higher ground. Here we pitched our tents and for a period 
of about three months guarded a section of the railroad which 
had been assigned to us. This was not the kind of service 
we had expected, but we were all glad to get away from bar- 
racks and rendezvous camps, and out into the open, where we 
could take our part with those already in the field and realize 
that we were closely associated with them in the desperate 
contest for the saving of the Nation. Aside from guard duty, 
our time was fully occupied while at Parkton in company and 
battalion drills and the ordinary routine of camp life. 



14 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CHAPTER II. 



CAMP SEWARD PARKTON, MARYLAND. 

'Tis the cause makes all 
Degrades or hallows 
Valor in its fall. — Byron. 

THE immediate occasion of our hurried departure from 
Camp Curtin was the invasion of Maryland by the 
Confederate Army. On the 5th of September, the 
day of arrival at Harrisburg, General Lee crossed the Potomac 
and pushed rapidly northward in the direction of Frederick. 
When midway across the river, as the story goes, he paused, 
took off his hat, and rising in his saddle, pointed toward the 
Maryland shore. Catching his meaning — or was it arranged 
beforehand? — the bands of the regiments following him 
struck up the tune of "Maryland, my Maryland." 

At once the men within sight and hearing took up the 
strain and joined heartily in singing the verses of the song 
which from the early days of the Confederacy had been asso- 
ciated with it.* It was the general impression of the people 
of the South that the inhabitants of this border State were in 
full sympathy with the Confederate cause and were only wait- 
ing the opportunity to co-operate with them, as they advanced 
in destroying railroads and bridges, and in rallying to their 
side to repel, as they were wont to put it, the "northern 
invader from their shores." This proved to be a fallacious 
hope so far as the masses of the people were concerned, but 

*Some of the stanzas of this song in the original are more 
forcible than elegant, as, for example, the couplet : 

"She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb: 
Huzza ! She spurns the Northern scum." 



CAMP SEWARD— PARKTON, MARYLAND 15 

there were enough of these sympathizers to act as spies within 
our lines and to threaten the security of the bridges and other 
vulnerable points on the line of the railroads, upon which 
the Union forces were relying for re-inforcements and sup- 
plies. Anticipating the evident plan of the enemy to destroy 
communications on the Baltimore and Ohio and the Northern 
Central roads, the authorities at Washington at once took 
steps to defend them. The task assigned to our Regiment, 
in connection with the One Hundred and Forty-eighth, was 
to guard a portion of the last named road extending from 
Parkton to Lutherville, a distance of about twenty miles. 
While on this duty, the Regiment was under the command of 
Major General Wool, of the eighth army corps, whose head- 
quarters was at Baltimore. At Parkton, the headquarters of 
the Regiment, four companies, B, F, G, and I, went into camp 
as a reserve force, while the rest were distributed along the 
road. At times these companies were called to Parkton for 
drill or inspection and so long as the weather was favorable 
the time, not spent upon guard duty, was fully occupied with 
squad, company and battalion drill. In general, the detail for 
guard duty came to each man, in turn, every fifth day. From 
this service, unless excused by the surgeon, there was no es- 
cape. During the twenty-four hours of its continuance, each 
man had the round of two hours on his beat and four hours 
off. At any time during this period, he was liable to be called 
out on the line and was expected to keep his accoutrements on 
his person in order that he might be ready for instant duty. 
Every survivor of the Regiment, — who was fit for duty — can 
recall some dismal nights and dreary days when the rains de- 
scended and the floods came and the cold winds blew unmer- 
cifully upon him, as he paced his lonely beat, marking off the 
long hours of his appointed watch. At such times, when it was 
not possible, and would not have been permissible, to have 
exchanged one's water-soaked attire for warm, dry clothing, 
not even in the interval of the "four hours off," what wonder 
if the shivering soldier of the line would be tempted to join 
in the old-time wail of the Irish recruit: "Oh-o-ne! Oh-o-ne! 
why did I come for a soger!" There were some who took 



16 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

such hardships seriously to heart, and actually died of des- 
pondency and home sickness. But with others, and these 
were by far the larger number, they were lightly regarded 
and quickly forgotten, when the days of sunshine and happier 
surroundings returned. 

One day, during the early part of our stay in Camp 
Seward, the Colonel received an intimation that a Confederate 
scouting party, some eight miles away, was heading toward 
our camp and would probably attempt to surprise its defenders 
during the night. To guard against this danger, sixty men 
from each company of the battalion were detailed for a recon- 
naissance, and were deployed at intervals by the roadside, a 
mile or more outside the camp. 

Soon after nightfall the command was given to load our 
muskets and keep quiet. There was something weird and 
uncanny in the hour and the place, as well as in these mys- 
terious preparations, and with tense nerves and bated breath, 
we awaited the approach of our expected foes. Suddenly, 
there came to our attent ears the sharp report of a musket, 
and in an instant every man was in his place and ready to 
repel an attack. It proved to be a false alarm, however, occa- 
sioned by the indiscretion of a nervous sentinel, who thought 
he had discerned a lurking enemy amid the dark shadows of 
the wood beyond him. After a wait of an hour or more, most 
of the men fell into fitful slumbers, trusting to their comrades 
on the outposts to give warning of coming danger. We re- 
mained in our several positions in the woods all night, but 
the enemy for reasons best known to themselves, did not dis- 
turb us. We captured one solitary horseman returning from 
a store and detained him until morning. He was the only 
prisoner who fell into our net and was able to give so good 
an account of his movements, that he was allowed to go to 
his home in peace. There were some suspicious characters 
who were found prowling about the camp, at times, during the 
Confederate invasion, who could not give satisfactory evi- 
dence of their presence or intentions to the officers of the post 
and were sent for further examination, or for safe-keeping, to 
Fort McHenrv. 



CAMP SEWARD— PARKTON, MARYLAND 17 

Access to the camp was allowed, for awhile, to the ven- 
ders of pies, doughnuts and cakes of very questionable char- 
acter and of various degrees of indigestibility, but when some 
persons, who were supposed to be spies, found entrance under 
that guise, this inside traffic was summarily prohibited. This 
proved to be a wise precautionary measure in the interests of 
the health of the men as well as for the safety of the Post. 

The "goodies" in general, which men weary of hard tack, 
beans and butterless bread eagerly bought of these neighbor- 
hood venders, were aptly described — as the boys interpreted 
it — by one old woman, not overtidy in appearance, who was 
wont to call out as she went up and down the company streets : 
"Here's yer cakes and pies en (pizen) things." 

One night, in the month of September, the occupants of 
a tent — six in number — were rudely awakened by the collapse 
of their canvas house, which, as it fell, enmeshed them in its 
dripping folds. As one by one they struggled out of the mass 
of prostrate canvas, blankets, overcoats, muskets and equip- 
ments, a cold, drenching rain poured down upon their un- 
sheltered heads and scantily clothed bodies. To right and 
repitch the tent under such circumstances was not an easy 
matter, and, after it was accomplished, its occupants were, 
perforce of circumstances, obliged to sleep the rest of the night 
under wet blankets and in wet clothing. It relieved the situa- 
tion somewhat, in so far as the feelings of these wrecked tent- 
mates were concerned, to know that many of their associates 
were involved in the same calamity. In that dark night of 
surprise and consternation there were only six tents out of 
sixteen in the company street which weathered the gale and 
stood erect. On every hand was heard the shouts and calls 
of men, who, like the occupants of their own mess, were 
crawling out from heavy folds of canvas into the driving 
rain. Some were scolding and fretting, some indulging in 
the "speech of Ashdod," while others bewildered, or about half 
asleep, were sitting still and helpless in the driving rain. The 
ludicrous side of the situation soon appealed to everyone 
and under the healthful stimulus of this reaction, the damage 
to the tents was soon repaired. The day following this un- 



18 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

toward experience, we received some practical lessons with 
respect to the manner of pitching tents and driving pegs so 
as to resist the strain of the contracting canvas when thor- 
oughly soaked by heavy or continuous rains. 

Our camp, being in an exposed location on a little swell 
of ground at the edge of a broad valley, was favorably situ- 
ated for the warm weather period of our stay, but when the 
cold blasts of November and December overswept it, we fre- 
quently had occasion to wish for housing of a more substan- 
tial kind than the canvas walls and flapping folds of our 
regulation tents. 

One morning, about the first of November, we awoke 
to find a furious snowstorm raging about us. A cold north- 
east wind had drifted the snow against the sides of our tents 
and sifted it inside whenever an opening could be found. As 
the day wore on the wind increased in velocity and the snow 
continued to fall in great feathery flakes covering the ground 
outside to the depth of several inches. This was our first 
experience of wintry storms in tent life and, because of our 
lack of foresight in preparing for it, was a decidedly uncom- 
fortable one. 

Inside the canvas walls, which were dripping with mois- 
ture, there was not enough of dry space to accommodate all 
of the ordinary occupants and to those who ventured outside 
there was no shelter for their heads and no place to which they 
could go, except to the camp fire in the company street. Here 
there seemed to be enough smoke at all times to go around, 
but it was a difficult matter to get near enough to the fire 
to realize any compensating benefit for the outside exposure 
to storm and snow which had to be endured, in order to 
enjoy it. 

Acting on a hint which came from Headquarters the 
afternoon of that dismal and long to be remembered day was 
spent in collecting stones from the bed of the stream below 
the camp with which to build rude fireplaces, topped out with 
sticks and mud, inside the tents. Some of them smoked the 
occupants out and had to be built over again, but in general 
they did good service and made our canvas houses much 



CAMP SEWARD— PARKTON, MARYLAND 19 

more comfortable during the remaining days of our stay. 
Most of the companies along the line of the road had the 
use of barracks and were not so much exposed to the rigors 
of these fitful and exceptionally severe climatic changes. 

Because of these changes, and for other reasons, not so 
apparent, there were many cases of serious illness in the sev- 
eral companies of the Regiment. The prevalent types of 
the most dangerous diseases were malarial and typhoid fevers. 
From the first of October until the middle of November the 
hospital tent was overcrowded, and ten deaths were reported 
up to the date of our transfer from Maryland to Virginia. 

In the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment there was, as 
already intimated, a large proportion of professing Christians 
who were as loyal to the Master, whose name they bore, as to 
the country and the flag they had sworn to defend. In this 
Maryland camp, and, where the conditions were favorable, in 
other camps, a brief public service of prayer was held morning 
by morning in the company streets. This service, led by an 
officer or someone selected from the ranks, was held while 
the men were in line, immediately after the roll call. The long 
line of bowed, uncovered heads in the grey of the morning, 
as someone voiced the petitions of the company, was a most 
impressive sight, suggestive in many cases of home memories, 
and prophetic, also, of a better day when each man, who might 
be spared to see it, should be free to worship God once more 
at the home altar, with none to molest or make him afraid. 

Following this service, the men usually sprinted in a body 
to the stream several rods below the camp for their morning 
ablutions. Later in the season it was necessary to break holes 
in the ice in order to avail themselves of this privilege. 

While at Parkton, a committee of officials, appointed by 
Governor Curtin, presented the State colors, — a beautiful silk 
flag — to the Regiment. This stand of colors was borne along- 
side the National flag from that date, and it is now in the 
Museum of the new Capitol of the State, with scarcely enough 
of its original fabric remaining to make its identity certain. 

About the first of December a lot of lumber was deliv- 
ered at the railroad station, and a few days later a band of 



20 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

carpenters brought it over to the camp and commenced the 
construction of company barracks. We naturally inferred that 
this meant the continuance of our stay in winter quarters, but 
in military affairs it is usually the unexpected that happens. 
While the hammers were vigorously pounding away on the 
new structure, an order was on its way from Headquarters in 
Baltimore, to report at once to Brigadier-General Casey in 
the Department of the District of Columbia. The "boys" 
were delighted to hear the news of this forward movement 
and with hearty enthusiasm began to pack up and prepare for 
it. For lack of transportation we did not get away until the 
evening of the ioth of December, almost three full days after 
the order was received. Had we gone at the date indicated, 
we should have reached the Army of the Potomac in time to 
take part in the disastrous battle of Fredericksburg. Through 
no fault of our officers Ave were hindered from going at that 
time, and, looking back from the standpoint of to-day, we are 
content that it was otherwise ordered by the Disposer and 
Overruler of human events. 




■ 






•v 


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■jk 









Brev. Brig. -Gen. John Fraser. Lt.-Col. Thos. B. Rodgers. 

Wm. S. Shallenberger, Adjutant. J. L. Milligan, Chaplain. 

Dr. I. Wilson Wishart, Surgeon. Brevet Brig. -Gen, II. II. Bincham. 



SOUTHWARD FROM MARYLAND TO DIXIELAND 



CHAPTER III. 

SOUTHWARD FROM MARYLAND TO DIXIELAND. 

On ! brothers on ! for the Flag that is peerless ! 

Striped from the rainbow and starred from the sky; 
On with a sturdy step ! dauntless and fearless ! 

On to unfurl it in triumph or die. 

THE Northern Central Railroad, which we had guarded 
with ceaseless vigilance, by day and night, for three 
months, furnished the Regiment with transportation 
to its terminus in Baltimore in rough freight cars of various 
types and patterns. We were favored in having a clear track, 
however, and the journey, which covered a stretch of twenty- 
nine miles, was shorter than we had anticipated. At the station 
we joined forces with the One Hundred and Forty-eighth and 
marched through the city, with bands playing and flags flying, 
to the station on the Washington side, a distance of nearly 
two miles. 

All along the line of this march, although at a late hour 
of the night, we were welcomed by crowds of enthusiastic 
residents who waved flags from windows, doors and balconies, 
or came out to the very curb of the pavements to wave hand- 
kerchiefs and call out "God Bless you boys," "The Union 
forever!" We entered this fair city with forty rounds of 
cartridges apiece, not knowing what might befall us there, but 
this enthusiastic welcome took us by surprise, and in response 
we made the long avenue on which we were marching ring 
with cheers and the soul stirring strains of our National an- 
thems. At the end of this march we were directed to the 
Union Association Hall, where we sat down to a home-like 
table covered with clean, white linen and enjoyed an excellent 
midnight supper, which had been provided for us. We were 
comfortably quartered in the same building for the night and 



22 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

until the evening of the next day. This generous entertain- 
ment was given at the expense of the city. Up to this date 
her loyal citizens had fed and cared for more than fifty 
thousand troops, who, like ourselves, were on their way to 
the front. 

During the daylight period of our stay in Baltimore, the 
opportunity was given to those who were not on duty to see 
the public buildings, the notable monuments, the bay, the 
shipping, and at all these places every courtesy and kindness 
was shown them. In the evening the Regiment was entrained 
once more as live frcigJit, for the long night run to Wash- 
ington. The box cars into which we were crowded, were pro- 
vided with rough planks for seats, and the only heating 
arrangement within our cramped enclosures was the aggregate 
of the blood heat of our bodies. This proved to be insufficient 
in its counteracting influence to offset the wintry temperature 
outside, and we suffered not a little from chilled hands and 
feet as the long night wore away. In the floor of the car 
which was occupied by Company G there were two large 
circular plates of iron, which suggested to someone the pos- 
sibility of using them as makeshift fireplaces. Acting on 
his own conception of the fitness of things, the author of this 
brilliant idea deliberately cut a little heap of shavings and 
slivers from the inside lining of the car and placing them on 
the iron plate beside him, called for a match. This was fur- 
nished by a comrade beside him and soon the little pile was 
blazing merrily. A careful watch was necessary to keep the 
fire from spreading to the woodwork around the plate by 
those who were fortunate enough to enjoy the benefit of this 
novel, but somewhat hazardous, method of toasting their 
chilled hands and feet. After feeding the flames for a while 
with such material as could be easily secured, there remained 
a little bed of glowing coals, which for a few moments, did 
good service. To guard against the outbreaking of the fire 
to the woodwork by a sudden lurch of the cars or by reason 
of the rapid progress of the train, a squad of volunteer firemen 
were at hand with a good water supply in canteens. 

When the train came to a dead stop on a siding a few 



SOUTHWARD FROM MARYLAND TO DIXIELAND 23 

hours later, someone ran out to a hay stack near by, and set 
it on fire. There were but few, perhaps, of the shivering occu- 
pants of the cars on the long- train at rest, who approved of 
this act, but no one hesitated to join the rapidly growing 
crowd of unfortunates who danced around it and warmed 
their chilled limbs by the roaring flames. In view of the 
extenuating circumstances it is fair to presume that "Uncle 
Sam," upon application of the owner, good-naturedly paid 
the bill. 

After a wearisome, sleepless journey of ten hours, a con- 
siderable part of which was spent upon sidings, we reached 
the outskirts of the city. Here we were quartered, awaiting 
further orders, until the afternoon of the next day. Wash- 
ington at that time was a great military camp and distributing 
station for troops and army supplies. The streets were cut 
into holes and deep ruts by the almost continuous passage of 
army wagons and artillery trains, and all the elevated sites in 
and around it were strongly entrenched. Army officers of 
all grades were prominent in public places and on the streets, 
and everywhere the rumble of wheels, the click of horses' hoofs 
and the clang of trailing sabres were heard. Around the 
Capitol and especially in the vicinity of its unfinished wings, 
there were acres of ground covered with rough-unhewn or 
partly dressed stones. The Washington Monument was an 
unsightly pile which had been halted in mid air to await the 
coming of a better day, but the work of reconstruction and 
addition, which had been undertaken before the war, in con- 
nection with the great building which represented the hope 
as well as the power and dignity of the Nation, went steadily 
on through all its vicissitudes and reverses. With pride and 
admiration, we looked upon the swelling dome which crowned 
the great building, even then of magnificent dimensions ; but 
the bronze statue of Liberty, which now towers high above it, 
was not swung into its place until a few months before the 
close of the war. Was it not a wise ordering of the Great 
Ruler of the nations that the place provided for it should 
remain vacant until the integrity of the Union should be 
assured : until the Nation welded together by indissoluble 



24 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

bonds in the furnace blast of war should receive its "new birth 
of freedom," and so make good the old-time jubilee proclama- 
tion of liberty throughout the land, unto all the inhabitants 

thereof. 

At three o'clock on the afternoon of the thirteenth of 
December, the Regiment left Washington City under orders 
to march to Liverpool Point, about sixty miles distant. 

We crossed the cast branch, or estuary of the Potomac, 
and bivouacked for the night in a muddy field thickly studded 
with stubs of cornstalks. In obedience to orders we had 
turned in our large mess tents to the Quartermaster's Depart- 
ment and had not received the shelter tents, which were to 
take their places, when we left Washington City. With a 
view to making the best of the situation, we made a frame- 
work of fence rails, which fortunately were close at hand, to 
keep us out of the mud. Spreading our blankets upon them, 
we slept soundly under the stars, within sight of the Dome 
of the Capitol. The next day the shelter tents were distributed 
and from this time until the close of the war. they were the 
only covering provided for the troops, who were in active 
service. This tent consisted of four sections. Each section 
had button holes on one side and buttons on the other and 
every man of the mess was expected to carry one. which he 
could utilize in the construction of the tent or as a cover for 
his couch. When in camp two of the side pieces were but- 
toned together, stretched taut over a slender ridge pole and 
made fast on the ground. The third piece formed the back 
oi the tent, and a fourth was sometimes utilized as a screen 
or veil before the door. When on the march two muskets, 
with bayonets placed in the ground, one at either end. fre- 
quently served as a substitute for a ridge pole. When pitched 
this canvas hut had a maximum height of less than three 
feet. It would keep its occupants dry in a heavy shower of 
rain, except when someone touched the muslin roof. This 
overt act. whether by accident or design, brought the water 
down in a continuous stream. On this march our personal im- 
pedimenta, including overcoat, blanket, knapsack, haversack, 
with three days' rations, shelter tent section, cartridge box, with 



SOUTHWARD FROM MARYLAND TO DIXIELAND 25 

forty rounds of ammunition, — heavy Belgian muskets, with 
sabre bayonets and accoutrements, — averaged sixty-five or 
seventy pounds per man. Two of the nights which we spent 
while on this march were bitterly cold. The chill wind which 
blew up the river came into our tents at every unguarded 
opening and the water in the canteens was frozen solidly. 
Sometimes when it was too cold to sleep, one or more of 
the occupants of the little tents would crawl out and sit for 
awhile around the camp fire of the company. But the fires 
usually burned provokingly low during the night watches and 
when fresh fuel was added, the smoke became so intolerable, 
at times, that it became necessary to retreat beyond the zone 
of possible heat, or disgustedly to crawl back to the shelter 
of the tent. At Liverpool Point where we rested for a few 
hours, a Government transport carried the Regiment down 
the River and across its broad bosom, — about four miles wide 
— to the mouth of Acquia Creek on the Virginia side. Here 
we heard for the first time of the repulse and crushing de- 
feat of Burnside's army at Fredericksburg. We had hoped 
to hear of a great victory which would turn the tide in favor 
of the Union, but instead, we were coming to an army which, 
while noted for its splendid heroism in reverses, as well as 
in battle, was nevertheless defeated, baffled, discouraged and 
dispirited. The railroad which was in working order from 
Acquia Creek to Falmouth, was crowded with trains filled 
with wounded men, who were being transferred from the 
field hospitals to Baltimore and Washington City. 

After a brief rest at Acquia Creek, — our first bivouac on 
Virginia soil, — we marched over a muddy, deeply gashed road, 
to Falmouth, a distance of sixteen miles, where a site for a 
permanent camp had been selected within sight and almost 
directly opposite the city of Fredericksburg. This selection 
was made for the reason that an order had been already issued 
assigning the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment to the 
First Division of General Couch's Corps, then commanded 
by General Winfield Scott Hancock, whose fearless conduct 
in battle and superb bearing in the presence of his troops 
had already made him one of the most notable and con- 



26 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

spicuous leaders of the Potomac Army. In this Division, 
which was the largest in the Army, there were four Brigades. 
Our Regiment was assigned to the Third and the One Hun- 
dred and Forty-eighth to the First. Our position, including 
all the relationships with which we were concerned, was in 
the Third Brigade, First Division, Second Army Corps, Right 
Grand Division, Army of the Potomac. The Brigade was 
commanded by General S. K. Zook, and the Right Grand 
Division by Major General Edwin V. Sumner. Referring to 
the arrival of reinforcements to the ranks of the First Divi- 
sion, General Francis A. Walker, the historian of the Second 
Corps, says : "Three days after the First Division returned 
to camp, it, as the most depleted division, received a reinforce- 
ment in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, 
Colonel James A. Beaver, a regiment which was thereafter, 
through all the terrible struggles to the glorious end, to be 
associated with the Second Corps, and never to be named 
without honor. Two days later, viz., on the 20th of Decem- 
ber, came another fine regiment from Western Pennsylvania, 
the One Hundred and Fortieth, Colonel Richard P. Roberts, 
which was assigned to Zook's Brigade." To it was given the 
distinction of serving also, but with a heavier loss, in the same 
notable Division until the close of the war. 

As we marched to our place of encampment through the 
open ranks of a host of spectators from the Irish Brigade and 
other neighboring commands, with our comparatively new 
uniforms and equipments and full companies, we were chaffed 
not a little on the newness of our appearance and the fullness 
of our ranks. One called out, "Whose brigade is this?" 
"Aw," chimed in another, who had caught sight of our heavy 
muskets, "them's the walking artillery." "Luk at them twelve 
pounders." Farther on we hear the greeting, "Glad to see 
you bys, but ye ought to have been here three or four days 
ago. Niver mind bys, ye'll catch it yet," and the like. The 
men who were thus disposed to criticise our freshness and 
lack of military experience, were the veterans of the Potomac 
Army who had just returned from the bloody field of Fred- 
ericksburg, and it was pathetic to see the little groups which 




Major-Gen. A. Burnside, Commander Army of Potomac. 

Major-Gen. E. V. Sumner, Commander Right General Division Army of Potomac. 

Major-Gen. Darius Couch, Commander Sec nd Army Corps. Colonel Richard P. Roberts. 

Major-Gen. Winfield S. Hancock. Commander First Division Second Corps. 

Urig.-Gen. S. K. Zook. Commander Third Brigade, Firsl Division. 



SOUTHWARD FROM MARYLAND TO DIXIELAND 27 

remained in their company streets, or rallied around their 
colors, where once had been full companies and regiments like 
our own. From official sources, as well as from the men 
themselves, we learned that Hancock's Division had been in 
the very thick of the fight over the River and that every 
regiment belonging to it had suffered phenomenally heavy 
losses in the vain attempts which had been made again and 
again to take the impregnable defences on Marye's Heights. 



28 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CHAPTER IV. 

WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 

We wait beneath the furnace blast 

The pangs of transformation; 
Not painlessly doth God recast 
And mould anew the Nation. — Whittier. 

THE location selected for our camp was an open space at 
the edge of a strip of woodland, which up to this time 
had escaped the hand of the spoiler. It was directly 
behind the town of Falmouth and over it could be seen the 
spires and fortified heights of the City of Fredericksburg. A 
ground plan of the regimental camp was prepared, before any 
of the winter huts were erected, on which were laid out w r ith 
mathematical skill the company streets and lots, and even the 
exact position of each mess of the several companies. Going 
into the strip of timber-land beside us with axes furnished by 
the Quartermaster's Department, we felled trees, mostly of 
pine, right and left, shaped them into logs of suitable length, 
and with these constructed the framework of our winter huts. 
As only four or five days remained before Christmas, we 
worked like beavers to complete our quarters in time for its 
celebration. The enclosure of logs which was usually about 
four or five feet high was plastered inside with Virginia mud 
or clay. An opening large enough for a fireplace was cut 
on the back side, and outside this opening a semicircular back 
wall was made by driving stout stakes closely together. In- 
side this, about eight inches or more, a corresponding wall 
of lighter stakes was constructed after the same fashion. The 
spaces between these curved lines of staves was then filled 
with a mixture of clay. 

The portion of the chimney above this rudely constructed 
fireplace was made of split sticks, built up like the corncob 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 29 

houses of our childhood days, and thickly plastered with mud 
within and without. The inner row of stakes which gave 
direction to the curve of the fireplace burned out gradually, 
as they became dry, but by that time the mass of mud which 
they supported, had become sufficiently hardened to make a 
safe and substantial back wall. A drop curtain made of a 
section of a shelter tent screened the entrance to the hut 
and to a limited extent protected its inmates from the cold 
blasts which swept through the company streets. 

The roof was made of joined sections of shelter tents. 
A ridge pole, supported on notched boards nailed as uprights 
to the logs, gave the desired pitch and the muslin cover, 
which was stretched over it, was nailed fast to the upper tier 
of logs on either side. For a few days following our arrival, 
a supply of cod fish was issued to the troops. This ration 
was not popular as an article of diet with the men from the 
interior, and frequently the larger ones, spread out to their 
utmost limit, were utilized as windbreaks on the tops of the 
chimneys. Six occupants, designated as bunkmates, were 
allotted, at the outset, to each hut. At night they were stowed 
away on an upper and lower berth made of a log frame and 
slatted with long flexible poles placed closely together, length- 
wise. The mattress, which was regarded as an essential fea- 
ture of this spring bed, for reasons that are evident, was 
usually made of muslin or gunnysack filled with hay, dried 
grass, leaves or straw. The lower berth was made a foot or 
more wider than the upper one and in the daytime was used 
as a divan or sofa. There was enough space between the 
berths and the fireplace to admit of seats, including the pro- 
jection of the lower berth, for all the occupants. This space 
was designated as the kitchen, and the cook for the week had 
the post of honor in the chimney corner. 

In less than a fortnight, the Regiment cleared five acres 
of ground for building and firewood. While in the midst of 
this work, an order came from General Burnsides to pack 
our belongings, prepare three days' rations and be ready to 
move at short notice. 

This arrested all our activities and for three days we 



30 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

awaited orders to break camp. At the end of this period, the 
original order was countermanded, and we resumed the work, 
which had been so summarily suspended, on our winter 
quarters. 

It was evident, however, from several disquieting indi- 
cations, that another movement was contemplated against the 
enemy before settling down to the quiet and security of a 
winter encampment. 

The first of January was one of the coldest days of the 
season, and the men who were on picket or detailed for other 
w r ork outside the camp suffered severely. The days follow- 
ing, until a day or two beyond the middle of the month, were 
for the most part clear and cold. The ground was frozen so 
firm and hard that it was comparatively easy to maneuver 
with troops or artillery, and within this time, there was a 
succession of daily drills, reviews and inspections of the 
Brigade, the Division and the Corps. 

The most notable of these parades was the review of the 
Second Army Corps, which took place on the seventeenth of 
the month. The day was clear and frosty and the sun shining 
upon the glittering lines of polished muskets and the swiftly 
moving columns of the several brigades and divisions made 
the display a memorable one, even to those who had long been 
accustomed to such exhibitions of the pomp and circumstance 
of war. Generals Burnside, Sedgewick, — temporarily in com- 
mand of the Corps in the absence of General Couch — Sumner, 
Hancock and other noted leaders of high rank were present 
and participated in this grand review. On its rolls the Corps 
had a numerical force of about 35,000 men, but the battle of 
Frederickburg, sickness, from exposure, and other causes had 
greatly reduced this number. To those of us who had not 
been accustomed to see such large bodies of men it seemed like 
a very great army, despite the record of its losses, and present 
day absentees. As the commanding officers rode down the 
lines General Sedgewick remarked to Burnside when directly 
opposite our front : "General, this is a very fine looking regi- 
ment." "Yes," replied Burnside, "Very fine, Sir. Everything 
about them looks complete." We were raw enough — "green 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 3* 

enough," as some one in the Irish Brigade expressed it, — 
to cheer the brave old commander, for brave he was in his 
misfortunes, as well as in his conduct before the face of the 
enemy. The most beautiful sight of the day to many of us 
was the review of the artillery connected with the Corps. 
There were about forty-five guns in this parade and the 
marching and countermarching of the several batteries was 
a marvel of precision and soldierly discipline. 

Immediately following this review orders were issued to 
the men of the several divisions to hold themselves in readi- 
ness for an advance movement. This was followed on the 
20th of January by a general order announcing that the time 
had arrived when the commander purposed again to lead the 
Army of the Potomac against the enemy and asked the co- 
operation of every officer and soldier in the army to the intent 
that this undertaking might issue in driving him from his 
defences. 

There was a brave ring in the wording of this order but 
to many, apart from the fickle behavior of the weather at this 
season, the conditions for such an advance were not favorable. 
The depression which followed the disastrous attempt to carry 
Marye's Heights by storm was still felt and many of the men 
who had attempted to do that apparently impossible thing 
were sore at heart. They were willing to follow the com- 
mander who had been appointed over them, since it must be so, 
but they felt that in the former campaign they did not have a 
fair chance and were not enthusiastic over his leadership. As 
a man General Burnside was highly esteemed by all who knew 
him and as a Corps commander he had been notably success- 
ful, but his failure at Fredericksburg, the whole blame lor 
which he generously took upon himself, had discouraged and 
well nigh demoralized the entire army. Smarting under the 
criticisms which were made by high officials of the govern- 
ment as well as in the columns of the public press, he resolved 
to make another attempt to engage the enemy before going 
into permanent quarters for the winter. 

On the 1 8th of January, two days before the beginning 
of this movement, the Regiment received a supply of new 



32 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Springfield rifles in exchange for the old Vincennes muskets. 
There was great joy among the men when this exchange was 
made, for the "shoulder cannon," as they were termed, had 
become a reproach as well as a burden. 

With this new, light and effective weapon in our hands 
we felt that we could take our rightful place by the side of the 
old campaigners and manfully do our part. 

When the movement which General Burnside had care- 
fully planned began the weather was all that could be desired. 
The sky was clear, the air crisp and frosty, and the roads were 
hard frozen and solid. On the left of the line the Grand Divi- 
sion under command of General Franklin took the initiative; 
for it was a movement from left to right up the river. For 
two days the troops of this Division could be seen as they 
filed past on some of the hill tops in the rear of our camp. 
They were followed by Hooker's Grand Division in the centre. 
With blankets rolled up and three days' rations in our haver- 
sacks we awaited the order to break camp. 

This order was not given to Summer's Grand Division 
for the reason that his camps were in full view of the enemy 
and also, as we learned afterwards, because it was General 
Burnside's intention to follow up the turning movement by a 
direct attack, under the lead of General Sumner, on the de- 
fences of the City of Fredericksburg. 

During the night which followed the movement of Gen- 
eral Franklin there was a storm of wind and pelting rain, 
which continued with slight intermission or abatement for 
two days and nights thereafter. The poor fellows who moved 
on Tuesday — the first day of the march — were drenched with 
rain and chilled with the wind. — which blew a gale all night 
long — as they cowered under the trunks of nearby trees or sat 
disconsolately around huge bonfires of pine logs, which with 
no little exertion and difficulty were kept burning. On Wed- 
nesday the movement was continued, and by that time the 
whole of Burnside's army, except our Grand Division, with 
its artillery and equipment, was out and exposed to the piti- 
less storm. The incessant rain had not only swamped the 
surface of the ground in many places but had brought on the 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 33 

"January thaw." The roads and fields were well nigh im- 
passable, even for infantry, and the men who were strug- 
gling on to reach the points they were expected to occupy 
that night, waded at times through mud and slush almost to 
their knees. The heavy wagons which carried the pontoons 
were mired all along the way and there were not enough 
horses or mules in the p^Tiy to pull them out. In some places 
batteries were held fast in the mud up to the cannon's mouth. 
In one case the attempt was made, without success, to pull out 
one piece of artillery near our camp with thirty horses. It is 
scarcely possible for one who was not a spectator of such sights 
to conceive of the condition of a break-up on Virginia soil 
after an immense army, regardless of roads, had passed over 
it. The artillery alone which filed past our camp moved in an 
almost continuous procession for over twenty-four hours. 
Further advance under such conditions was impossible and on 
Thursday the wearied, mud-covered and discouraged troops 
were ordered to return to their camps. This movement had 
gone down into history as Burnside's "Mud Campaign." He 
was not to blame for the weather conditions which no one 
could foresee, and yet he took a great risk, pre-doomed, as 
some regarded it, to failure in making such a venture with a 
great army in one of the most uncertain months of the winter 
season in the latitude of Virginia. This disastrous attempt 
silenced the clamor of the critics in the North who had been 
urging a forward movement of the Army of the Potomac, 
regardless of time or season, and, for the first time since the 
Fredericksburg disaster, the men were encouraged to settle 
down and make themselves comfortable in winter quarters. 
As soon as the troops of the several commands had returned 
to their camps, General Burnside tendered his resignation. 
It was accepted and General Hooker was appointed by the 
President in his place. Coming to this responsible position at 
a time of great discouragement with a brilliant record based 
on his fighting qualities, the new commander at once secured 
the esteem and confidence of his men by his liberality in grant- 
ing furloughs and his unremitting attention to their present 
every-day needs. Ovens were built at convenient locations 



34 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

within the lines for the baking of soft bread and orders were 
issued at once for a generous supply of potatoes, carrots, 
onions and other kinds of nourishing foods and vegetables. 
The first instalment of these luxuries was hailed with delight. 
For nearly two months we had subsisted upon salt bacon, hard 
tack and beans and it was good to see a bountiful supply of 
bread, vegetables and fresh meat once more. It was not so 
strange therefore that the recipients of these luxuries began 
to look on the brighter side of the situation, or that with one 
accord they were disposed to bless "Fighting Joe" in their 
hearts. At a later date boxes from relatives and friends sup- 
plemented the "extra rations" of General Hooker; and there 
were few messes that did not share in a portion of the good 
things that were enjoyed by the folks at home. In one week 
near the close of the month of February, 15,000 boxes arrived 
from the North and were stacked up in huge piles at the rail- 
road station. 

During this period of suspended hostilities there were 
several visitors from the sections in Western Pennsylvania, 
which had representatives in the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Regiment, who were always cordially welcomed and in so far 
as our limited means and space permitted, were hospitably 
entertained. Among those who came from Washington 
County were two highly esteemed citizens from the neighbor- 
hood of Canonsburg. the Rev. James Sloan, D.D., and Dr. 
Emery — a doctor of medicine. — each of whom had a son in 
Mess Xo. o of Company G. Both were heavy weight men 
physically, as well as mentally, and on their road from the 
station to the camp had great difficulty in making their way 
through the swampy ground intervening. Dr. Sloan, the 
heavier man of the two. was extricated from a slough of the 
treacherous Virginia mud, when almost exhausted, by a pass- 
ing soldier who kindly came to his aid. There were others 
nearby not so considerate, who could not resist the temptation 
to call out to their fellows : "Come boys and see the big citi- 
zen stuck fast in the mud!" "Oh my!" "Why don't the Arm> 
of the Potomac move." At the door of the hut to which 
these unexpected visitors were directed an enthusiastic wel- 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 35 

come was given them, but the door itself proved to be too 
strait for the admission of the whole of their bodily frames. 
After a few moments delay a hand saw was procured and the 
entrance was made wide enough to admit them to the com- 
forts and generous hospitality of their friends inside. 

In Hancock's Division the prescribed routine of camp 
life and army regulations was scrupulously observed. 

At 6 o'clock in the morning, the bugle at headquarters 
sounded the reveille and immediately after the bands of the 
several regiments took it up and made the air vibrate with the 
rattle of their noisy drums. This was the signal for the awak- 
ing of an army of over 100,000 men whose camps occupied a 
broad belt in continuous succession from the outposts of Sum- 
ner's Grand Division on the right to the outposts of Frank- 
lin's on the left, a distance of about nine miles. Before the 
ending of this noisy demonstration every man was expected 
to be in his place on the company street to answer to his name. 
At this time the details for camp, picket or fatigue duty were 
announced. A brief space after breakfast was usually spent 
in the brushing and dusting of clothing, cleaning and scouring 
of guns, brasses and equipments and in putting our little 
houses in order for the day. At 8 o'clock the detail for duty 
assembled on the color line for "guard mounting" which in- 
cluded a thorough inspection of arms, clothing and accoutre- 
ments. The detail for picket duty reported for a still more 
rigorous inspection at an earlier hour of the morning. Those 
who regarded themselves as unfit for duty were summoned to 
the surgeons' tent by the "sick call." This was unlike all the 
other bugle or drum calls and was interpreted by the boys to 
mean: "Come and get your quinine" "come and get your qui- 
nine." At 8 o'clock the companies were called out, if the 
weather was favorable, for an hour or two of drill and general 
maneuvers. In the afternoon at 2 or 3 o'clock the regiments 
with flags flying and drums beating, were usually assembled 
under the direction of the brigade or division commander for 
field evolutions, and the more intricate forms of maneuvers 
by regiments and brigades. 

The great event which closed the active duties of the day 



36 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

was the dress parade. The writer of the "History of a 
Famous Regiment/' the Sixty-third Pennsylvania, gives the 
following description of this beautiful and imposing cere- 
monial : 

The regiment, dressed in its best, with everything as 
bright as it could be made, the men fell into line by com- 
panies and in a few moments a line of iooo men (when the 
regiment had its full complement) stood silent and immov- 
able like statues. The band, standing on the right of the line, 
led by the drum major with his big brass-headed staff, 
struck up a slow and solemn air and marched down the 
front of the line to the extreme end, then wheeled, and 
changing the air to a lively one, returned briskly to their 
position at the head again. About one hundred feet in front 
of the center of the line the Colonel took his position. At a 
command from the Adjutant, the orderly sergeants of the 
companies advanced to the front and center, and saluting, 
gave their report of the officers and men present and absent. 
After the orderlies had returned to their position, the 
Adjutant read any orders that related to matters concerning 
the service. The commissioned officers then advanced in line 
to front and center and saluted the Colonel, who acknowl- 
edged it and the parade was dismissed. 

After this, until the hour of taps, the men were free to 
write letters, play games, tell yarns to entertain their bunk- 
mates, or enjoy themselves in any legitimate way that seemed 
good to them. When the weather was unusually severe or 
stormy those who were not on guard or picket duty, had an 
abundance of time at their disposal, and many were the de- 
vices with which to while away the passing hours within the 
close confines of the winter hut or the regimental camp. 

On Washington's birthday the troops in camp had some 
experiences which were not so agreeable. A leaf from the 
records of Sergeant Fowelson of Company K. gives an inside 
view of the manner of its observance in the mess to which he 
belonged : 

During the night of February 21st there was a heavy 
fall of snow accompanied with a strong northeast wind. 
When we awoke on the 22d (Sabbath morning) we wit- 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 37 

nessed to satisfaction the romance of soldier life. We found 
ourselves literally in a snow drift. The snow had been 
forced in by the wind through the many crevices of our 
shanty, till everything within was whitened by the intruder. 
We were pretty comfortably located when we were wrapped 
up in our blankets, covered with snow, and preferred to 
remain there, till Boyd, whose turn it was, had "built the 
fire and put the kettle on." And then we broke the crust and 
huddled around the fire to eat our scanty meal. The storm 
continued to rage with unabated fury throughout the day. 
The wind howled around our homely shelter like a pack of 
wolves. Huddling about the fire with our toes in the ashes 
and shivering with the cold, we found some diversion in 
listening to the roar of artillery, above the howling of the 
storm, as different parts of the army were celebrating the 
birthday of Washington. Then followed a night of intense 
cold, during which some on sentinel duty froze to death. 

Some of the most trying experiences of this exceptionally 
severe and stormy winter were on the picket line of the Divi- 
sion which was quite close to the river and had no protection, 
such as we enjoyed further back in the camps, from the cold 
winds, which frequently swept up the valley from the sea. 

Under ordinary circumstances every one who was fit for 
duty was included in this detail once in a period of five or 
six days. It meant to every man on this list a night bivouac 
without shelter and for the greater part of it without fire. 
The time limit while on this service was two days. 

After the regimental inspection, to which reference has 
been already made, the picket guard joined the pickets of the 
Brigade and were then marched to the Division headquarters 
about a half a mile in rear of our camp. Here the body as a 
whole was reviewed by General Hancock or some member of 
his staff. Then with the consolidated drum corps at the head, 
and the drum major dancing and twirling his baton in front 
of it, the guard marched and countermarched in the open 
space in front of the general's tent. When this performance 
was over the pickets of each regiment were taken back to the 
front and thence by the most direct route to the station as- 
signed them on the line. 

During the two days and one night of this service the 



38 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

pickets occupied three positions designated as the reserve, the 
support and the advanced post. At the first, which was the 
nearest to the camp, the luxury of a fire was allowed and 
permission was given to rest or sleep. At the second the 
occupants were expected to be ready to fall in and go to the 
support of the men on the outposts at any hour of the day or 
night. At the outposts, which in general were in plain view 
of the enemy, the men were stationed in groups of four and 
the changes were made every two hours so that each man 
served two hours on "post" and four hours off. A portion 
of the line assigned to our Division was directly opposite the 
City of Fredericksburg, and the whole stretch covered a dis- 
tance of about two miles. 

Soon after our arrival at Falmouth, a large detail from 
the regiment was taken out to the picket line by a German 
field officer, who spoke in very broken English. At the picket 
reserve we were halted and permission was given to stack 
anus and rest. A few moments later we were surprised to 
hear the order "fall in." As we were about to move the com- 
manding officer said to a lieutenant nearby, "Pis ground vill 
not do. It is licv." This announcement was a revelation 
to most of us. It meant that some of the old troops were so 
plagued with that notorious pest of the march and bivouac, 
familiarly known as "gray backs'" that they actually infested 
the ground where the pickets had been stationed for a con- 
siderable length of time. Knowing that we had no: yet en- 
tered upon this experience our German officer was considerate 
enough to move us to a new location. Despite every precau- 
tion these blood-thirsty parasites, which were no respecters of 
persons, would appear suddenly and a: every opportune mo- 
ment would sally forth from their hiding places inside the 
seams and folds of shirts and undergarments to carry on 
their insidious work. When once established in these hidden 
retreats the only effective remedy was to plunge the garments 
which sheltered them into boiling hot water. While in camp 
this could be easily done by those who would take the trouble 
or the time from other things, but on the march it was well 
nigh impossible. 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 39 

Some of the clays and nights spent upon the picket line 
during this winter season were bitterly cold and the men, who 
were exposed to the stormy elements without fire or com- 
fortable shelter for two-thirds of the time of their period of 
duty, had experiences of discomfort and suffering which were 
scarcely equalled by Washington's command at Valley Forge. 
On the Confederate side we could often see blazing fires on or 
near the advance line, while we stamped around on the picket 
line or its support to keep our chilled limbs from becoming 
frost-bitten or paralyzed with the cold. Directly behind us 
wood for fuel was plenty enough, but because of orders, as 
changeless as the code of the Medes and Persians, no fires, 
except on the reserve, were allowed. On the night of the 
22d of February, the exceptionally cold night already alluded 
to in the record quoted from Sergeant's Powelson's diary, 
twenty-three men of Company D came from the picket line 
with frozen feet. The larger number of this detail were so 
seriously injured as the result of this exposure that for a 
long time they were not able to walk. The officer in charge 
of this section of the line conceived it to be his duty, in view 
of the situation, to march his detail to their quarters in the 
camp. This assumption of responsibility, without orders from 
his superior officers, was regarded as a serious offence. A 
court martial, convened in haste, listened to the admissions of 
the party with respect to this violation of the letter of the law 
and sentenced every man belonging to it to a severe punish- 
ment, including loss of pay and other privileges and per- 
quisites; the heavier penalty being meted out to the officer, 
who to save his men, as he supposed, from freezing to death, 
had assumed this responsibility. When the plea was made 
in his behalf that the act was inspired by a desire to save life, 
the general commanding the Division replied that it was not 
an unusual thing for men to lose their lives on the picket line. 
From his standpoint nothing but an order for recall could 
justify such an act, for the reason that these men were placed 
on that outpost for the defence of the entire army. The 
writer can distinctly recall another experience of prolonged 
discomfort a little later in the season. When the reveille 



40 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

awoke the men from their slumbers at daybreak that morn- 
ing the air was darkened with falling flakes of soft snow. 
By the time the usual inspect ions were over the unbroken 
mass of snow through which it plodded was more than a foot 
in depth. When we arrived at the first station the snow was 
Still falling, and. as no shelter had been provided for such an 
emergency, we found that the best and only thin? we could 
do was to tramp around in a limited space to make a solid 
standing place. The temperature was comparatively mild, 
but the soft snow had melted on our clothing' as it fell and. 
as a result, we were uncomfortably damp through and through. 
During the eight hours which we spent in that place some of 
the men huddled together in groups on their feet, while others 
spread their rubber blankets on the beaten bed of snow and 
do.:ed or dreamed the long hours away. When night came on 
we were in another position, similar in many respects to the 
first, on the support. Here we were to stay until after mid- 
night and were permitted to spread our rubber blankets upon 
the unbroken bed oi snow. Then in groups of four or five 
we lay down to rest, using some of our woolen blankets for 
bedding and the rest for a cover. As the snow continued to 
fall we soon had more heat than we wanted. The light 
downy quilt of closely compacted tlakes of snow which 
covered the blankets was warmer than a comforter of down 
and almost smothered those beneath it. Shaking this off we 
slept on that bed of snow more soundly, perhaps, than when 
under more favorable surroundings, we had laid us down to 
sleep on our mother's feather beds. 

When we reached the outposts on the edge of the river 
the heavy snow clouds that had SO long obscured the sky. 
cleared away, and a cold, searching wind swept up the valley. 
In a short time the sleeves and breasts of our damp overcoats 
were fro.cn stiff, encasing us. like the soldiers of medieval 
times, in a cumbrous armor exceedingly difficult to manage 
while on. and which when on sentry duty we could not take off. 
After our release from service on this part of the line we found 
a resting place beside a well furnished house which had been 
abandoned by its owner or occupants. Either by design or 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 41 

accident, presumably the former, a fire broke out inside the 
house and around its blazing timbers we thawed and dried our 
clothing and warmed our chilled and stiffened limbs. 

These experiences of almost continuous hardships and 
discomforts were exceptional. Over against them we can 
recall many days of this service, especially in the early spring 
time, when it was more enjoyable to be on the picket line 
than in the camp. It was an understood arrangement that 
there should be no firing on the picket line during the period 
when offensive movements were suspended. When a move- 
ment was in progress by either army this suspension of hos- 
tilities did not apply. In most cases the sentries on the Con- 
federate side were near enough to be heard in tones a little 
above ordinary conversation, as well as to be seen. In Gen- 
eral Orders conversation with the pickets of the enemy was 
prohibited, but it was a difficult matter to enforce these 
orders when two men facing each other were practically alone, 
and wanted to say something. 

Hence in general the rule was more honored in the breach 
than in the observance. On the one side the common appella- 
tion was "Johny Reb" or "Johnnie" on the other it was 
"Yank" or "You Yank." In these conversations opinions 
relating to the war and its continuance, the merits or demerits 
of the several commanders, the probable outcome of the next 
movement and other matters of common interest were freely 
and frankly discussed. There was at times a great deal of 
sharp hitting back and forth and of friendly invitations to 
come across and be sociable. This was not always intended to 
be understood as banter. At some points where the water was 
shallow the opposing parties would wade in and meet each 
other, shake hands, and proceed to "swap" tobacco and Rich- 
mond papers for coffee and New York Tribunes or Heralds. 
Sometimes the "Yanks" would rig up a little boat with these 
articles of traffic, set the sail carefully to catch the breeze, 
while the pickets of both sides watched with eager interest its 
progress from shore to shore. Frequently the little vessel 
was captured a good distance from the shore by a Johnnie 
who waded or swam out to meet it. Of course this evidence 



4-- THE ONE HUNPKED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

of good will was reciprocated ami the little boat was returned 
with its cargo of Southern commodities. 

In General Gordon's Reminiscences of the Civil War there 
LS an instance given of this sort of friendly intercourse which 
happily illustrates its nature and significance: While riding 
along the line of Confederate posts he noticed some confusion 
at one point with an evident attempt to conceal a sudden move- 
ment in the high weeds which lined the river hank. 

"What is the matter.*' he demanded of one of the sen- 
tries, "with those weeds?" 

"Nothing at all. sir." was the response; "but," says the 
General, "1 ordered him to break the weeds down." There 
I found a soldier almost naked. I asked: 

"Where do you belong?" 

"Over vonder." he replied, pointing to the Union Army 
on the other side. 

"And what are you doing here, sir?" 

"Well. General,* he said. "I didn't think it was any harm 
to come over and see the boys just a little while." 

"What boys." I asked. 

" These Johnnies," he said. 

"Don't you know. sir. that there is war going on in this 
country?" 1 asked. 

"Yes. General," he replied; "but we are not fighting 
now." This was almost too much for the dignity of General 
Gordan, but. assuming a stern aspect, he said: 

"I am going to teach you. sir. tbat we are at war. You 
have no rights here except as a prisoner of war. and 1 am 
going to have you marched to Richmond, and put you in 
prison." This terrible threat brought the "Johnnies" to his 
defence, and they cried out, "Wait a minute, General. Don't 
send this man to prison. We invited him over here and we 
promised to protect him, and if you send him away it will 
iust ruin our honor." 

The object of my threat had been accomplished. I had 
badlv frightened the Northern guest and his Southern hosts. 
Turning to the scantily clad visitor. I said: "Now. sir. if I 
permit you to go back to your own side, will you solemnly 
promise me on the honor of a soldier, that — " But without 
waiting for me to finish my sentence, and with an emphatic 
"Yes. sir." he leaped like a bullfrog into the river and swam 
back. 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 43 

The Second Brigade of Hancock's Division, consisting 
originally of the Sixty-third, Sixty-ninth and Eighty-eighth 
New York Volunteers, was recruited at the beginning of the 
war, from men of Irish birth by Thomas Francis Meagher, 
the famous orator who had been exiled from his native land, 
because of the prominent part he had taken in the rebellion of 
1848. To this brigade were added, when reduced by frequent 
losses, the Twenty-eighth Massachusetts and One Hundred 
and Sixteenth Pennsylvania. 

It was designated from the first as the "Irish Brigade" 
and because of the glamour associated with the name it fre- 
quently received special mention from the newspaper corres- 
pondents for deeds of valor, which it shared in common with 
other regiments and brigades of the same command. It was 
without doubt a notable brigade, suffered heavy losses as did 
all the regiments of its Division, and, as General Walker puts 
it, "was until the close of the war one of the most picturesque 
features of the Second Corps, whether in fight, on the march 
or in camp." 

On reviews and other special occasions its gaily attired 
commander was always a conspicuous figure. He wore a 
handsome silver scabbard by his side, the gift of his Irish 
admirers, and rode a well groomed, white horse, with easy 
grace and abandon. In each of the regiments of this com- 
mand the green flag of Ireland was carried by the side of the 
National colors. 

One of the events which helped to while away the hours 
of the winter cantonment by the Rappahannock was the old- 
time celebration of St. Patrick's Day by the officers and men 
of this brigade. The director and prime mover was General 
Meagher. It was a public affair to which all the troops of 
the Corps who were not on duty were invited. 

On a high platform erected for the occasion were most 
of the notable generals of the army and a score or more of 
ladies, who were visitors from the North. The day, March 
17th, was fine and the sports of the morning came off blithely 
and according to program. 

There were hurdle races, foot races, sack races and 



44 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

athletic contests of the Irish type. Three of the jockey riders 
were thrown at the hurdles in the first course, for the ditches 
were wide and the barriers high, and before the race was 
ended, several of the contestants were badly bruised and 
shaken up. When the horses came in on the home stretch. 
General Meagher and his staff had all they could do to keep 
the excited Irishmen from crowding in upon the race course, 
and freely belabored the offending ones by striking them over 
the head and shoulders with his riding whip, — all of which 
they seemed to take in good part. After a brief pause for 
lunch some ludicrous attempts were made by several contest- 
ants to climb a greased pole. The catching of a greased pig, 
which had been closely shaved and freely anointed, was the 
next item on the program. While preparations were being 
made for this contest an unexpected interruption was an- 
nounced by the dull roar of artillery on the right of our line. 

A few moments later General Meagher received a mes- 
sage from headquarters and mounting his horse shouted out 
the command, "Back to your quarters every man. The enemy 
is making an attack on our right." Instantly there was a 
scattering of officers and men in everv direction. On our re- 
turn to camp orders were given to be ready to move at a mo- 
ment's notice. The roar of artillery was heard for some time, 
but we were not called out from the camp. We afterwards 
learned that the commotion which had so suddenly broken up 
the merrvmaking of the afternoon was caused bv an attack 
of our cavalry under General Averill. who for some reason 
was pushing the Confederates on the outposts of their left 
wing. 

A few weeks later the entire Division, including its 
ambulance corps, artillery mule drivers and musicians, was 
ordered out to witness a military punishment of unusual char- 
acter. Three men who had been convicted of cowardice and 
desertion in the face of the enemy, at Antietam and Fred- 
ericksburg, had been sentenced to the disgraceful ordeal of 
"drumming out of the service," and the assemblage of the 
Division was for the purpose of carrying out that sentence. 
After the men of the several commands had been formed into 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 45 

a hollow square the prisoners were brought inside it at one 
end, under the charge of the Provost Guard. One-half of 
their heads had been closely shaven, and a broad board with 
the word, COWARD, writ large, was fastened on their backs. 
Three soldiers with bayonets at a charge were then placed 
close behind them. At the word of command the men started 
forward with about a hundred drums and half as many shrill 
fifes playing the "rogues march" behind them. Its suggestive 
"Tee-hee, Tee-hee," sounded in their ears every step of the 
long way up one line and down the other. These miserable 
men with downcast eyes and tottering limbs, with buttons and 
facings cut from their uniforms, had to march about a mile 
before they reached the point where they were formally ban- 
ished from the camp and the service. 

During the three months which were spent in winter 
quarters, under command of Major-General Hooker, the men 
of all branches of the service had gained greatly in discipline, 
effectiveness, military bearing, and the army as a whole was 
hopeful, loyal and in splendid condition. The Grand Divi- 
sions which had been in existence for some time were broken 
up under Hooker's administration, and more stress was laid 
upon the organization, equipment and leadership of the several 
corps. One excellent feature of his ordering and initiation 
was the adoption of "corps badges" to be worn alike by the 
officers and men. "These badges," says General Walker, 
became very dear to the troops, a source of much emulation on 
the part of the several commands, and a great convenience to 
the staff, in enabling them, quickly and without troublesome 
inquiries, to identify divisions upon the march or along the 
line of battle." 

While the corps badges differed in form and outline from 
each other, they all had red for the First Division, white for 
the Second and blue for the Third. The device assigned to 
the Second Corps was the trefoil or shamrock. The adoption 
of this form of badge was probably suggested by General 
Meagher, or given out of courtesy to the men of the corps 
who had borne aloft in every battle, with the colors of the 
Nation, the green flag of Erin's Isle. The flag which led the 



46 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Division, Hancock's flag, as it was called at that time, had a 
large, blood-red trefoil in its centre and was a very conspic- 
uous object at headquarters, as well as on the march and in 
time of battle. 

On Wednesday, the eighth of April, four corps of the 
army, including our own, were reviewed by President Lincoln, 
who was accompanied by Secretary Seward, Mrs. Lincoln and 
her two boys. The vast field in which this display took place 
was in plain view of the Confederate signal stations in Fred- 
ericksburg, and also of thousands of their soldiers, who 
crowded the summit of Marye's Heights and the elevations 
south of it to witness it. The formation was in three "lines 
of masses" of two corps each. The length of each line was 
estimated to be more than a mile, and the depth of the three 
lines from front to rear, including the spaces between, at about 
one-fifth of a mile. The number of men present was esti- 
mated at 80,000. The marching of the troops after the caval- 
cade, including the commanding general, the President, the 
officers of the staff and their escorts, had swept through the 
open spaces in the lines of formation, moved in the same 
compact order past the reviewing stand. On this, as on every 
other visit to the Potomac Army, the President received a 
hearty and enthusiastic welcome. 

For magnificence of display and widely extended reach 
of vision this was, without doubt, the finest military pageant 
ever witnessed on this continent. A considerable number of 
the men of our Regiment were on the picket line that day 
and missed the most imposing features of this great parade. 

It was General Hooker's intention to open the campaign 
of 1863 by a movement to the right, on the 15th of April, and, 
with this in view, our overcoats and other clothing in excess 
of present needs was sent to the Quartermaster's Department 
for storage during the summer months. Orders were issued 
to all the troops to provide themselves with eight days' rations, 
five to be carried in the knapsacks and three in the haversacks. 
This movement was prevented by heavy rains and well nigh 
impassable roads for several days. There was no recall, how- 
ever, of the orders, and the men were held in readiness for an 



WINTER QUARTERS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. a7 

advance at the earliest possible moment. The appearance of 
the paymaster on the 20th of April, with two months' pay 
for each man in crisp greenbacks, was hailed with delight and 
contributed not a little to the general good feeling which pre- 
vailed throughout the army on the eve of this memorable 
campaign. 



48 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CHAPTER V. 

THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN. 

April 28th to May 3d. 

Many and many a weary day 
Our lion-hearted legions lay, 
Waiting and hoping for the strife, 
Weary of an inglorious life. 
At last the onward orders given, 
With cheer on cheer the air is riven! 
And 'mong themselves the soldiers say, 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! boys, this the day 
We cross the Rappahannock. 

Now the encampment's all alive, 
And seems like some vast human hive, — 
Now rattle and roll the noisy drums, 
The long roll beats and calls to arms ! 
Then "Forward" the commander saith, 
The soldiers almost hold their breath 
And in the very face of death 

They cross the Rappahannock. 

THESE beautiful verses happily depict the spirit of tke 
Army of the Potomac, as well as the stirring events 
Which inaugurated the opening of the campaign of 
1863. 

A more favorable initiative for the great turning move- 
ment which General Hooker had so carefully planned could 
scarcely have been imagined. The splendid army which he 
had brought up to a high state of discipline and efficiency, 
and had inspired with confidence in his leadership, was the 
largest and the best equipped military force which had ever 
been called into service on this continent. Including all the 
arms of the service it numbered nearly 130,000 men. the most 
of whom had already proved their mettle and won imperish- 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 49 

able renown on many a hard fought battlefield of the pre- 
ceding campaigns. 

On the 2 1 st of April a feint was made of crossing the 
river at Port Royal, twenty miles below Fredericksburg. The 
real movement, so long delayed, began on the 27th, when 
the Eleventh, Twelfth and Fifth Corps, under the command 
of Howard, Slocum and Meade, were sent to occupy Kelly's 
Ford, twenty-seven miles above Fredericksburg. This point 
was reached on the day following. On the night of the 28th 
and the morning of the 29th, this turning force crossed the 
river and began the march down its right bank, uncovering as 
they advanced the lower fords in the direction of Fredericks- 
burg. The Rapidan was crossed at Ely's and Germanna Fords, 
and without any serious opposition the flanking column pushed 
on toward the Chancellorsville House. To co-operate with it 
and carry out the plan, which General Hooker had so care- 
fully and skillfully outlined, the First and Third Divisions 
of the Second Corps were ordered to hold themselves in readi- 
ness to cross the river at United States Ford. The Second 
Division was not included in this order and afterwards co- 
operated with General Sedgewick's command on the left wing 
of the army. As already indicated, every preparation for the 
movement on our part was made on the evening of the 27th. 
At three o'clock on the morning of the 28th, the reveille 
sounded and every man who was fit for duty answered to his 
name on the company streets. A short time was allowed for 
breakfast after which the blankets were rolled up, the huts 
unroofed, and the sections of shelter tents, which for four 
months had covered them, were distributed among the mem- 
bers of the several messes. While we were all awaiting the 
order to move, an incident took place in the company street, 
where the writer stood with his comrades, which made a 
deep impression upon all who were present. At a given signal, 
a young officer stepped to the front and announced that it had 
been suggested — the suggestion came from the Lieutenant- 
Colonel, as we supposed — that a few moments should be spent 
in devotional exercises. To have morning prayers in our 
company street on the Sabbath and at other times when the 



50 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

weather was favorable, was not an unusual thing, and at this 
time, when we were about to face unknown dangers and 
unusual experiences, the suggestion seemed to be peculiarly 
timely and appropriate. As we bared our heads in the gray 
dawn, the leader read in distinct, impressive tones, the beauti- 
ful sentences of the 121st Psalm — "I will life up mine eyes 
unto the hills." Then followed a brief prayer to Jehovah, the 
Keeper of Israel, who made the heaven and earth, beseeching 
Him to defend us from all evil in our outgoing and incoming, 
whatever might befall, from henceforth and forevermore. The 
bugle call to "fall in" quickly followed the ending of this 
brief service, and slinging our heavy knapsacks, we awaited 
the note which meant "forward." At the word of command, 
as it rang out on the still morning air, every musket came to 
a shoulder, then to a right shoulder shift, and every foot 
instinctively obeyed the familiar signal. At last the command 
to which we belonged was in motion, and for us the campaign 
of 1863 was begun. 

We marched about five miles that morning, and, as we 
had more than enough time for our part in the concerted 
movement, went into camp in the midst of a dense forest of 
pine and cedar. During the night, the pontoon train passed 
us on its way to the designated place of crossing, United 
States Ford. There was a heavy rain fall during the after- 
noon of the day on which we started, and at some places the 
road over which we expected to travel was almost impassable. 
On Wednesday the 29th, there were showers at intervals and 
a force of 2,000 men were out all day in our front making 
corduroy roads. In the evening the Division marched about 
four miles and bivouacked in the vicinity of the ford. The 
Third Division crossed the pontoon bridge soon after its 
completion on Thursday. When our turn came the evening 
shadows were beginning to fall. On the other side no stops 
were made, except to close up the long drawn out files. At 
times as the night wore on, we were permitted to rest on 
our backs for a few moments, but the orders were imperative 
to refrain from unslinging our heavy knapsacks and haver- 
sacks until the designated place of bivouac should be reached. 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 5.1 

This resting place was about a mile from Chancellorsville, 
and we did not reach it until near midnight. Here we con- 
nected with the troops of the Fifth Corps in accordance with 
the program which had been outlined by General Hooker, be- 
fore the movement began. Thus far his plans had been car- 
ried out successfully and in view of all the difficulties with 
remarkable promptness. With very slight loss he had placed 
a strong force of infantry and artillery in a position which 
threatened the safety of General Lee's left flank, and on his 
own left wing had effected a crossing of the river below and 
in front of Fredericksburg. Acting in concert with the flank- 
ing forces, General Sedgewick had carried and was actually 
occupying the heights which Burnside had tried in vain to 
take a few months before. 

There was a basis, therefore, for the somewhat boastful 
General Order No. 47, which "announced to his army that 
the operations of the past three days have determined that our 
enemy must either ingloriously fly, or come out from behind 
his defences and give battle on our own ground, where certain 
destruction awaits •him." 

It seems passing strange that the man who dictated these 
words should be hesitating and undecided, and finally fall 
back to a defensive position without a struggle when in the 
very moment of realizing the fruition of his labors and antici- 
pations. 

Alluding to this unaccountable change of purpose the 
historian of the Second Corps says : 

While the movements of the Union commander, from 
the 27th to the 29th of April, had been not only brilliant but 
audacious, it had been observed that, even on approaching 
Chancellorsville, General Hooker showed signs of that hesi- 
tation which was two days later to thwart his own project. 
The concentration of the right wing on the 30th of April 
had been effected much less rapidly than it might have been 
without distressing the troops, and the morning of the 1st of 
May found General Hooker irresolute when victory was 
already within his grasp. Sickles' Third Corps, which had 
been called up from the left so soon as the occupation of 
Chancellorsville was assured, was now crossing at United 



52 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

States Ford. With such superiority of numbers on the 
Union side, there was no justification for an hour's delay. 
The cry should have been "forward," at least until the 
turning column, consisting now of four corps and two 
divisions, should be deployed before Lee's positions. 

The advance which General Hooker finally ordered in 
the direction of Fredericksburg, did not begin until about 
eleven o'clock. There were three roads available for this pur- 
pose and down each one of them detachments of the leading- 
corps were sent, preceded by cavalry and a heavy force of 
skirmishers. Two divisions of the Fifth Corps taking the 
lead, moved on the road next the river and advanced to a 
position a little more than two miles beyond Chancellorsville. 
Slocum, with the Twelfth Corps, moved down the plank road, 
while Sykes Division, supported by Hancock's command, took 
the turnpike road which lies between the river and the plank- 
roads. 

On this advance we had our first experience of the grim 
realities of war. The rattle of musketry on the skirmish line 
and the bursting here and there of a shell within our lines 
were the first intimations that the enemy were in our im- 
mediate vicinity. Farther along we met wounded men com- 
ing back to the rear. The first of this blood-stained procession 
had a handkerchief bound about his forehead, covering, as he 
said, a furrow which a ball had made on the side of his head. 
When we reached the crest of a low ridge where a halt was 
called, shells from the Confederate batteries began to fall in 
lively fashion in our immediate vicinity. For some reason, 
unknown to us at the time, there seemed to be a great com- 
motion among the troops which had preceded us and appar- 
ently a number of them were falling back. 

A few moments later, an officer of General Hancock's 
staff came with an imperative order to fall back at once. 
This was quickly followed by the command, "By the right of 
companies to the rear." In the execution of this movement, 
which had become familiar by frequent repetition on the drill 
ground, the several companies were supposed to retire from 
the line of battle in parallel lines, thus facilitating a rapid 







G h. J. C I . Com. i-t Div. --mi Corp*. Major-Gen. Jos. Hooker, Com. A. of P. 

Maj r-Gen. Geo. G. Meade, Com. A. of P. Lieut.-Gen. N son A. Miles, Com. of ist Brigade. 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 53 

and orderly retreat. In this case, however, the wilderness 
through which we had passed, and in which we had been 
deployed, was so dense that we could see but a few steps 
ahead, and could only guess at the general direction which 
the companies nearest to us were taking. We were happily 
unconscious of the fact, which was known to the general 
officers, that at this time most of the troops which had preceded 
us had been withdrawn and that a large force of Lee's veteran 
army under "Stonewall" Jackson, was bearing down with all 
speed on our flank, with the hope of cutting us off from the 
main body at Chancellorsville. As we struggled along through 
the underbrush, we could see but little about us until we came 
to an open space in the midst of which was a broad but com- 
paratively shallow swamp. While the men were trying to 
pick their way around it General Hancock suddenly appeared 
on horseback, his face blazing with the heat and excitement, 
and with expletives and gestures, which, at times, were charac- 
teristic of the man, emphasized his short, curt command : — 
"Dash through that swamp or you will all be taken by the 
enemy." At this moment he was "Hancock, the Superb." 
Then for the first time we realized that the enemy in strong 
force was close behind us. 

As we reached the turnpike road, we saw before us on the 
crest of a steep little hill, the double line of Sykes' regulars, 
the command which had preceded us, stretching across the 
road and evidently in momentary expectation of receiving the 
enemy. There were several guns of the batteries belonging 
to this Division, charged with grape and canister, and every 
gunner was standing at his post with lanyard in hand, and 
ready for the word — "Fire." As we rushed up panting and 
breathless between the lines which open to admit us, we were 
hastily assigned to a position a few rods back of the Division 
which had appeared so timely for our rescue from destruction 
or capture. Before we had time to look about us, the Con- 
federates charged the line with a terrible blood curdling yell, 
— the "rebel yell" — heard by the men of our Regiment for the 
first time. With an answering shout of defiance from the 
Union side came a crash of musketry and artillery which 



54 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

drowned every other sound and darkened the air with clouds 
of smoke, heavily charged with sulphurous fumes. 

Unable to bear up against the leaden hail which swept 
through their ranks from that line of fire on the crest of the 
hill, the charging columns of the enemy hesitated, wavered, 
and then fell back to the shelter of the woods. 

General Walker, in his history of the Second Corps, gives 
as a reason for our tardy withdrawal, the fact that General 
Couch delayed to give the order allowing Sykes' men to fall 
back in rear of his Division, in the hope that the Commander 
would reconsider what he regarded as a fatal blunder. 

"As the retiring column came nearer to Chancellors- 
ville," he says, "the efforts of the enemy to interrupt their 
retreat became more vigorous, but, by the skilful conduct of 
Hancock's skirmishers, and by the assistance promptly 
rendered by Sykes' 'regulars,' Hancock came off safely, 
and took position across the turnpike between divisions of the 
Fifth Corps on the left and on the right." 

With respect to the ground which the advance of the 
reconnoitering column had abandoned, the same author 
writes : 

The position reached, somewhat more than two miles 
from Chancellorsville, was one in every way easy to hold. 
It afforded room and range for a powerful artillery force, 
and could readily have been crowned before night by ninety 
guns. The ground in front was largely open; the roads 
behind sufficiently numerous for a rapid reinforcement of the 
line or for a safe retreat. The field was exactly such a one 
as the men of the Army of the Potomac had always been 
crying out for — one on which they could see the enemy they 
were called to fight. Yet this position General Hooker, in 
an evil hour, determined to abandon, not for one further 
advanced, but for the low and wooded ground about Chan- 
cellorsville, relinquishing the very form and show of aggres- 
sion, retreating before the enemy, and taking up a line which 
was completely commanded by the high ground already 
occupied. 

Elsewhere, he savs : 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 55 

As Generals Couch, Meade, Sykes and Hancock sat on 
their horses in a group close behind the division of the last 
named officer, General Meade, looking up the road, ex- 
claimed, with great emphasis, "My God, if we can't hold the 
top of a hill, we certainly cannot hold the bottom of it." 

Colonel Beaver, the Commander of the One Hundred 
and Forty-eighth Regiment, was present when an Aide from 
Hooker's headquarters delivered the order for withdrawal to 
General Couch. The General was much surprised, he tells 
us, and said : 

"That cannot be, sir!" The Aide insisted upon it, but 
the General refused to retire, until he had sent one of his own 
staff to ascertain that the order was peremptory. From the 
hour of this unfortunate blunder, General Hooker's good 
judgment seemed to forsake him. There were those who had 
opportunity to see him after his arrival at Chancellorsville, 
who openly asserted that he had been drinking freely to cele- 
brate his success in the flanking movements and that the dis- 
asters which followed the placing of his splendid army in a 
defenceless position, together with other strange actions and 
omissions on the days following, were directly traceable to the 
condition of a befuddled brain. 

The historian of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers, who had the opportunity to see the con- 
dition of affairs at Army Headquarters on Sunday, the 3d 
of May, says : 

The libations, in view of the character and surround- 
ings, were quite imposing, and the beverage luxuriant and 
expensive. The many abandoned bottles, the broken and 
empty baskets, the frequent and suggestive popping of cham- 
pagne corks, indicated a free and liberal allowance of this 
intoxicant, just then so exclusively confined to army head- 
quarters. 

Shortly before his death, Carl Schurz summed up the 
conflicting opinions relating to General Hooker's condition at 
this time in these words : 



50 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

There has been much speculation as to whether those 
who accused General Hooker of having been intoxicated 
during the battle of Chancellorsville were right or wrong. 
The weight of the testimony of competent witnesses is 
strongly against this theory. It is asserted, on the other 
hand, that he was accustomed to the consumption of a certain 
quantity of whiskey every day, that during the battle he 
utterly abstained from his usual potions for fear of taking 
too much inadvertently, and that his brain failed to work 
because he had not given it the stimulus to which it had 
been habituated. Whichever theory be the correct one, 
certain it is that to all appearances General Hooker's mind 
seemed, during those days, to be in a remarkably torpid, 
dazed condition. 

It is certain, also, that General Lee was quick to take 
advantage of the change in situation. Ignoring the demon- 
stration of Sedgewick, for the present he threw his whole 
available force upon Hooker with a view to prevent his ad- 
vance beyond the low and practically defenseless position to 
which he had retired at Chancellorsville. 

While the Confederates were rallying their forces in 
front of General Sykes' Division for a second attack, we were 
sent to the support of a battery directly behind this line. 
When the attack was renewed, we were ordered to lie flat on 
our faces in order to allow one or two batteries on slightly 
higher ground to fire over us. While in this humiliating 
position, with most of our heads lower than our heels, a 
score or more of rifled guns worked with a rapidity which 
was amazing, sending one screaming shell after another over 
our heads into the dense timber in which the enemy were 
hiding. While in this uncomfortable situation a sergeant and 
four or five men of the Regiment were injured by shells which 
had bursted prematurely and scattered their whizzing frag- 
ments among us.* The second attempt to carry our position 
by assault was as much of a failure as the first and for the 
time the contest was ended. 

*A fragment of a shell which had struck the ground within 
reach of someone was passed down the line of prostrate men from 
hand to hand. It was more of a curiosity then than it would have 
been a few days later. 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 57 

As the Regiment was marching to a new position a herd 
of Texas steers, which had been driven, for slaughter, into 
the edge of the woods, were stampeded by some bursting 
shells and charged madly, with heads down and tails up, 
across the open space in which we were moving. To meet 
the onslaught of this new enemy, the men who were directly 
in the line of their approach were quickly halted and faced 
about. As the line of muskets were brought down quickly to 
a charge, the frightened animals threw up their heads and, 
veering off by the flank, left us in undisputed possession of 
the field. This encounter was designated, by "the boys" who 
were immediately concerned, as the "charge of the Texas 
Steers." 

Our new position was in a dismal woods where we spent 
the night as a support to the troops in our front. The Con- 
federates had planted some batteries on the high ground which 
we had abandoned and at intervals through the long hours 
of darkness, shelled the section of the woods in which we 
were lying. At one time their deadly missiles came so near 
to us that we had to hunt for trees to shield us. 

The available ones were all so small in girth, however, 
that they afforded but a slight protection. Under the circum- 
stances, it was almost impossible to sleep. From our position 
in the woods, we could see the broad sheet of flame which 
issued from the mouth of the guns before we heard the racket 
of the shell and this more than anything else, unless we except 
the insistent call of a disturbed whip-poor-will, seemed to get 
on our nerves. 

About three o'clock in the morning, we were moved from 
this uncanny location to a position, with the rest of the Corps, 
on the line of battle. This was in front of the Chancellor 
House, directly across the turnpike road which leads to Fred- 
ericksburg. The Union line as a whole, was in very nearly 
the form of a horseshoe. The disposition of the troops, May 
ist, as given by General Walker, was as follows: 

The left was held by Meade's Fifth Corps, extending 
southwesterly from Scott's Dam on the Rappahannock, his 
front covered by Mineral Spring Run. The Second Corps 



58 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



here took up the line — French on the left, with Hancock ex- 
tending across the turnpike and connecting with Geary's Divi- 
sion of the Twelfth Corps, not far from the plank road. On 
the right of Geary, and somewhat advanced, was Williams' 
Division of the same corps, and beyond this the powerful 
corps of Sickles, while upon the extreme right lay the Elev- 
enth Corps, under Howard, most dangerously "in the air." 

Hancock's position was the most exposed on this portion 
of the line, and if the attack of May 2d had been made from 
the direction of Fredericksburg, as on the day previous, it 
would have been the very center of the conflict. 




When the Regiment reached the position indicated in 
the sketch above, we were provided with tools to construct a 
rifle pit. Not knowing what moment we might be attacked, 
it was to the interest of every one to work with might and 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 59 

main, and in an incredibly short time we had a strong- line 
of defense. This was made still more secure by slashing the 
timber in our front. The men on the outposts took advantage 
of a line of rifle pits which had been constructed the day 
before by General Sykes of the Fifth Corps. Owing to the 
advanced position of the Division which seemed to invite 
attack, the skirmishers, under the command of Colonel Nelson 
A. Miles, were posted about three paces apart with strong 
reserves and practically formed a single battle line. Company 
A, of the One Hundred and Fortieth, was detailed for duty 
on this line and shared in the perils to which it was exposed 
in the frequent and persistent attacks which were made upon 
it that evening and the next day. 

At intervals during the day, attacks were made on por- 
tions of the line to our right, but these were of short con- 
tinuance, and, as we afterwards learned, were diversions to 
cover the flanking movement of General Jackson, who spent 
most of the long day in moving his compact force of over 
twenty thousand men to a point where he could hurl them 
with resistless fury upon the unready and unprotected troops 
of Howard's Corps, who were posted a mile or more in ad- 
vance of any other forces, on our right wing. This moving 
column, which made a detour of about fifteen miles, had been 
discovered at several points, but Hooker and Howard had 
both been obsessed with the idea that it meant a retreat of 
the Confederates, and no immediate danger was anticipated. 
General Carl Schurz, who commanded a division of the Elev- 
enth Corps, says that the first intimation that a heavy force 
was bearing down upon them, was given by a number of 
deer and rabbits which came bounding out of the woods in 
their front. Close behind them were the solid columns of 
Stonewall Jackson, and they fell upon the advance line of 
Howard's First Division, taking the men who belonged to it 
completely by surprise, and crumpling up the feeble force which 
opposed them before the troops in their rear could get into 
position. Some heroic attempts were made by General How- 
ard and his division commanders to rally the panic stricken 
men who were thus overpowered, but it was too late to recover 



60 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

the lost ground or impede the terrific onslaught of the exulting 
enemy. In a few moments of terrible confusion and amid a 
pandemonium of discordant noises above which could be dis- 
tinctly heard the "savage screech of the rebel yell," the right 
flank of Howard's Corps was completely turned and his entire 
command forced to flee in helpless rout and confusion. Before 
this attack was made the Eleventh Corps was directly in the 
rear of our position, or in other words, Howard's men were 
facing in an opposite direction on the other side of the horse- 
shoe bend. Hence in their mad rush for the rear, hundreds of 
them came down pell-mell to our rifle pits and would have 
dashed through them, if they had not been opposed, into the 
enemy's lines. A few were rallied by General Hancock and 
his staff and were placed in position in the rear and to the left 
of our line, but the greater number made good their escape 
in the direction of the United States Ford. 



"The stampede of the Eleventh Corps," says General 
Morgan, Chief of the Corps Staff, ''was something curious 
and wonderful to behold. I have seen horses and cattle 
stampeded on the plains, blinded, apparently by flight, rush 
over wagons, rocks, streams, any obstacle in the way but 
never, before or since, saw I thousands of men actuated 
seemingly by the same unreasoning fear that takes possession 
of a herd of animals. As the crowd of fugitives swept by 
the Chancellor House, the greatest efforts were made to 
check them; but those only stopped who were knocked down 
by the swords of staff officers or the sponge-staffs of Kirby's 
battery, which was drawn up across the road leading to the 
ford. Many of them ran right on down the turnpike 
toward Fredericksburg, through our line of battle and picket 
line, and into the enemy's line ! The only reply one could 
get to argument or entreaty was, All ist veloren ; vere ist 
der pontoon?'" 'Although the appearance of thousands of 
fugitives from battle, with ambulances, wagons and caissons, 
all in a wild stampede," says General Walker, "is apt to be 
very disconcerting and demoralizing to a line of battle, the 
troops of the Second Corps did not appear in the smallest 
degree affected." 



It has been said with truth that "there is no logic in a 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 61 

panic which for the time deprives brave men of self control," 
but usually such senseless frights are limited to commands 
which have not learned in the rigid school of drill and disci- 
pline, to stand by each other and rally from the shock of an 
unexpected attack. More remarkable, however, than this 
illogical panic, is the historic fact that the troops which fled 
so ingloriously that day were afterwards numbered among the 
heroes who so gallantly stormed the heights of Missionary 
Ridge. 

In the midst of the noise and confusion which followed 
the driving in and breaking up of the Eleventh Corps, and 
while as yet the issue of the battle was not definitely known 
to us, a military band of brass pieces took position in an open 
space between the lines and with shot and shell crashing 
around them, played a succession of National airs for ten or 
fifteen minutes, beginning with the stirring strains of the 
grand old song, born amid battle scenes : — "The Star 
Spangled Banner." The effect was indescribable. Sponta- 
neously, the men who were yet standing by the flag broke 
out into cheers and took heart again. The band which stood 
its ground and did this splendid service when pandemonium 
seemed to have broken loose, and everything appeared to be 
going to pieces, belonged to the Fourteenth Connecticut Regi- 
ment. It is said that one or two of the men belonging to it 
were slightly wounded by fragments of flying shell and that 
some of the instruments were borne away with honorable 
scars. 

A discordant note, wild, weird and thrilling, which was 
heard before this concert began and continued for some time 
afterward, was the "rebel yell." At first it came to our ears, 
mingled with the awful din indistinctly, then clearer and 
nearer indicating unerringly the success of the Confederate 
attack. This battle-cry, unlike anything we had ever heard 
before, has been described as "a falsetto yelp, which, when 
heard at a distance, reminded one of a lot of school boys at 
play." The high strung monosyllables "Ki-yi-yi-yi" which 
made up the sum and substance of it, when once heard in 
their battle setting, could never be forgotten. The marked 



62 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

difference between the attacking columns of the blue and the 
gray described by the historian of the Sixty-third Pennsyl- 
vania in the sentence following, will be recognized as an accu- 
rate representation by the veterans of either army : 

"When the Union men charged, it was with heads erect, 
shoulders squared and thrown back and with a deep-chested 
ringing cheer, but when the Johnnies charged it was with a 
jog trot in a half-bent position, and though they might be 
met with heavy and blighting volleys, they came on with the 
pertinacity of bulldogs, filling up the gaps and trotting on 
with their never-ceasing 'ki-yi' until we found them face to 
face." 

It was about half past five o'clock in the evening when 
Jackson broke through the lines of the Eleventh Corps. Be- 
fore his progress was checked by the hastily formed lines of 
Sickles' Corps, the nearest of the Union forces at hand, he 
had advanced nearly a mile and a half to a position directly 
in our rear and within a mile of the Chancellor House. While 
the issue between the forces hotly engaged at this part of the 
battlefield was still in uncertainty, several attempts were made 
by the Confederates under McLaws, to drive Colonel Miles 
from his entrenched picket line in our front. With rare 
courage and ability, this young officer held back again and 
again the assaulting columns sent against him and kept his 
line intact until after nightfall. In his history of the battle, 
Mr. Swinton says : 

So delighted was Hancock at the splendid behavior of 
his skirmish line that, after one repulse of the enemy, he 
exclaimed, "Captain Parker, ride down and tell Colonel 
Miles he is worth his weight in gold:" while Couch, turning 
to his major-generals who commanded his two divisions, 
said, in his quiet but emphatic way, "I tell you what it is, 
gentlemen, I shall not be surprised to find myself, some day, 
serving under that young man." 

While we were thus temporarily at rest between two 
fires, one on our skirmish line and the other a mile away in 
our rear, General Zook, the commander of our Brigade, came 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 63 

down the line with a pale, anxious face and briefly told us 
the peril of the situation. "If," said he, "the line in our rear 
gives way, you are the last hope of this army. I mean to 
hold my ground right here. Will you stand by me?" "Yes, 
yes," was the response from every hand. "We are with you, 
General." "Yes," cried one of the boys just beside him, "we 
will stand by you as long as there is a button left on our 
breeches." 

Turning our backs on our strong line of defense, we 
formed a temporary breastwork with our knapsacks and 
awaited the result. For several hours after nightfall, the 
battle raged almost continuously, but the progress of the 
exulting foe was at length checked in the vicinity of Hazel 
Grove, by the determined men who had gone to fill in the 

gap- 

While trying to reform his troops who had been thrown 
into a condition of disorder and inefficiency while charging 
through the underbrush, "Stonewall" Jackson was mistaken 
for an enemy, and mortally wounded by his own troops, 
Heavy losses at other points had made this day's advance a 
dearly bought victory, but the Confederates had gained an- 
other advantage in position which practically broke up the 
Union line of defense and told disastrously upon the still more 
desperate and bloody battle of the day following. 



64 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN. 

May 3rd to May 6th. 

Picket line and battle fray, 

And weary marching night and day. 

WHILE holding his position at the Chancellor House, 
General Hooker contracted his lines, necessitating 
the moving of troops and the placing of artillery on 
the high ground in our immediate vicinity. Hence there was 
but little opportunity for sleep that night. Before the dawn- 
ing of that Sabbath day, the third day of the conflict, those 
who had fallen asleep by the rifle pit were rudely awakened by 
the roar of artillery and the bursting of shell. It seemed as if 
the little knoll above us was literally crowded with batteries, 
and all of them seemed to be vigorously at work. 

The ground beneath us heaved and trembled and the 
atmosphere was dense with smoke and sulphurous fumes. 
Following this came the rattle of musketry, at first like the 
popping of fire crackers, and then in a few moments more, 
a steady and almost unbroken roar, which told us plainly 
enough that the men of Jackson's Corps, commanded now by 
General "Jeb" Stuart, were bent upon following up the advan- 
tages which they had gained the night before. The object 
of this fearful onslaught was to carry the open space, or 
platform, on which the Chancellor House stood. Fearful that 
he could not hold his ground here, Hooker had constructed a 
new line of defense, under the direction of his Engineer 
Corps, at Bullocks' clearing to the left and rear of our posi- 
tion, for it was of vital importance that the approach to the 
river fords should be held. 

As matters now stood, the salvation of the army de- 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 65 

pended upon holding this line of communication and the 
Fifth Corps which had been on our left was shifted to the 
new line. During the night the First Corps, under General 
Reynolds, came down from United States Ford and was so 
aligned as to support the Fifth Corps, if necessary. Mean- 
while, the contest for the possession of the plateau, raged 
with undiminished fury. 

Again and again attempts were made, also, to carry the 
line of defense in our front which Colonel Miles was charged 
to hold at all hazards. To strengthen it still more, details 
of two companies from the One Hundred and Fortieth — A 
and B — and other contiguous regiments were added to the 
force, which had held it the day before, and with the same un- 
flinching courage every attempt to rush it was foiled. "At 
last," says General Walker, "after miraculously escaping injury 
through nearly four hours of constant exposure, the heroic 
young officer, who had so long conducted this gallant defense, 
was shot through the body and carried from the field." From 
half past five o'clock in the morning until nine, the battle 
raged on the right and center with varying degrees of success 
and failure. In several spirited dashes, colors and prisoners 
had been taken by the men of either side. Thousands had 
fallen or were unfitted for duty and yet our battle line in the 
main, up to this hour, was still intact. Then came a lull — an 
ominous silence on the part of the Confederate Army. It 
did not mean withdrawal, but the gathering up of the deci- 
mated ranks of the assailants for a final assault. When it 
came, it found our troops in that quarter almost out of ammu- 
nition. Repeated and earnest requests had been made to 
General Hooker for a fresh supply both for the artillery and 
infantry, but those whose duty it was to supply it, whether 
for lack of orders or some other reason did not deliver it. 
As the Confederates advanced from right to left all along 
the line with their blood-curdling yells, some of the troops, 
who had nothing but the bayonet to resist them, fell back. 
In the confusion which followed, a general retreat was ordered 
on the right, followed by a giving way in the center. Sullenly 
and in comparatively good order, our men withdrew in the 



66 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

face of the enemy. In eager, but somewhat cautious pursuit, 
the Confederates from two sides of the circle swarmed over 
a section of the open space upon the Chancellorsville plateau. 
As the troops of the several commands which had faced to 
the south, made their way back toward the new line, they 
passed close to the line of our Division, which quietly remained 
in its place. As on the evening before, our backs were turned 
toward the strong intrenchments which we had built for our 
protection from the enemy in front. Facing now in the same 
direction, we watched with growing anxiety and concern, the 
broken columns of the troops who were falling back by com- 
panies and squads, followed by the vengeful shells of the 
enemy. A few rods from our line, a little group of powder- 
begrimed men paused for a moment for some reason and 
while clustered together, a well-aimed shell burst in their 
midst. Instantly the survivors scattered to right and left, 
but some of their number had fallen, perhaps to rise no more, 
while others who were wounded were helped off by their 
comrades. 

Among those who sought the rear with greatly acceler- 
ated speed, by reason of the shells which were bursting around 
them, was a beautiful young woman, who had fled from the 
Chancellor House, now the very center of the concentrated 
fire of the enemy. There was a dash of crimson on one side 
of her pallid face which indicated a slight hurt. Her strength 
and courage seemed to be equal to the occasion, however, and 
she was soon beyond the range of our vision as well as of 
the destructive fire of her friends — the enemy. 

A graphic description of the perilous situation of the 
Division as a whole, at this time, and the reason for the delay 
in its withdrawal, is given in the History of the Second Corps 
by its accomplished Adjutant-General, Francis A. Walker, 
from which we take the following quotation : 

The field was lost. The center and right had gone out, 
and the Confederates were swarming over the plain from 
the south and west and establishing their batteries on the 
crest they had just captured. But there still remained the 
divisions of Hancock and Geary, receiving fire at this time, 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN (fj 

of musketry and artillery, from three-quarters of the circle. 
Colonel Cross' command had once during the morning 
changed front and formed line of battle to meet the troops 
of Anderson's division, then threatening to break through 
Geary's right. So that when the right and center fell out, 
Hancock was in two lines of battle, — one facing toward 
Gordonsville, the other only a few hundred rods away 
fronting east toward Fredericksburg. Only fourteen guns 
were at command, and of these but nine were in condition 
to be effective. The nine mentioned, Pettit's six and three 
of Thomas, under Lieutenant Donahue, were directed to fire 
up the turnpike: the remaining five, belonging to Lepine's 
Fifth Maine Battery from the First Corps, had been taken 
possession of by General Couch and placed in the peach 
orchard behind the Chancellor House. Geary's division at 
this moment held the approach from the south along the 
plank road. All the other troops were gone; but this little 
army lingered on the field to cover the retreat. The gallant 
bearing of these troops checked the progress of the enemy's 
infantry, who, fearfully punished in the great battle of the 
morning, in which they had lost nearly eight thousand killed 
and wounded, conceived that they had a new battle to fight: 
but the fire of the Confederate artillery had now become 
infernal. Lieutenant Donahue, in command of Thomas' 
three guns, was mortally wounded. Lepine's battery, in the 
peach orchard, was almost instantly cut to pieces; every 
officer was killed or wounded, whereupon General Couch re- 
quested Lieutenant Kirby, of the First Artillery, to take 
command of the battery. Hardly had Kirby reached his new 
position when his horse was killed, and a few minutes later 
this most heroic and promising young officer fell mortally 
wounded. And now a heavy infantry column fell upon the 
front which General Geary had maintained with so much 
spirit across the plank road. Stubbornly the men of the 
Twelfth Corps resisted; but at last that part of the line fell 
out, and Geary's command passed, in no disorderly column, 
down the road to the Bullock clearing, where the new posi- 
tion was being taken up. It was still of great importance to 
gain time; to hold the enemy at bay as long as possible, 
until the roads leading to the rear should be cleared of 
troops, and the broken and disordered brigades should be re- 
formed. This necessity pressed strongly upon General 
Couch, and nobly did he set himself to discharge the duty. 
His example was superb. Of slight stature, and usually of a 
simple and retiring demeanor, he became sublime as the 
passion of battle and the high-mounting sense of duty took 



68 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

possession of every power and faculty, every thought and 
feeling, every limb and nerve. His horse was killed ; he wa9 
himself twice hit. Nobly, too, was he seconded by the chief 
of his First Division (Hancock), whose horse was killed, 
and who was only able to secure a re-mount on an animal 
hardly large enough to allow the general's feet to clear the 
ground. 

The Chancellorsville plateau was now a hell of fire — shot 
screaming over it from every direction but the northeast; 
the house itself in flames; yet Hancock's division, alone 
where seven divisions had been, stood in two lines of battle, 
back to back, east and west, while the fourteen guns held 
the enemy at bay on the south. 

At last the word came that the First Division might 
withdraw. The long skirmish line, which had so nobly done 
its work all the morning and the day before, upon the left, 
was quickly, and but for a blunder of one officer would have 
been cleanly withdrawn. The guns of Lepine's battery, which 
had lost all its officers, all its cannoneers, and all its horses, 
were drawn off by the hands of the men of the Fifty-third, 
One Hundred and Sixteenth and One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania; the wounded were removed from the burning 
house by Lieutenant W. P. Wilson, of General Hancock's 
staff, one of the bravest and coolest of men, with a detail 
from the Second Delaware ; and then the heroic rearguard 
fell slowly and steadily back toward the new line at the 
Chandler House.* 

Evidently General Walker relied on official records to 
describe the removal of the wounded from Chancellor House. 
Zook's report, not filed for so many years, makes clear the 
reason for Hancock's eleventh-hour supplementary and per- 
sonal appeal to the One Hundred and Fortieth for detail of 
Company to complete the work going forward under Lieu- 
tenant W. P. Wilson's charge. 

From this general description, which throws much light 
upon the situation, we come back to the part taken in this last 
stand by the men of the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment. 
At the critical moment when all the divisions were falling back, 
except our own, we were ordered up to the support of the for- 
lorn hope which was still holding the section of the plateau 
by the Chancellor House. Leaving our knapsacks at the edge 

*See page 317 for mention of additional details for this purpose, 
including Company F of the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment. 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN tg 

of the rifle pit, we advanced in double line of battle through 
the intervening strip of timber land at such a pace that General 
Zook, who superintended our part of the advance in person, 
could hardly keep his place ahead of the line. It seemed to 
be the eager desire of every man in it to get to the end of 
this perilous course, whatever it should bring to him, as soon 
as possible. When the Regiment reached the edge of the 
woods which came up almost to the house, we were ordered to 
lie flat on our faces as a support to Lepine's Fifth Maine Bat- 
tery. Here we remained for something over a half hour amid 
a tempest of iron hail which might well have appalled the 
stoutest veteran. The deadly missiles which were hurled 
against this battery ploughed the ground behind it, scattering 
dust and gravel over our prostrate bodies, while those which 
were aimed a little higher tore the limbs from the trees above 
us. Again and again they struck within our lines, also, killing, 
wounding and maiming for life, one and another by the side 
of those who remained unhurt. The morning was hot and 
sultry, and so intolerable was the thirst which parched throat 
and lips in this terrible place that some of the men, including 
the writer, took the risk of losing life or limb in order to get 
a mouthful of tepid water from the canteens by their sides. 
As the leaden moments passed, the responses from our battery 
became less frequent, as one after another the guns were dis- 
abled, and the men who had manned them were killed or 
wounded. In his official report of this cannonade, General 
Couch says : "The enemy had thirty pieces in position on our 
right and advanced some of their guns to within 500 or 600 
yards of the Chancellor House." To add to the terror of the 
scene, the immense building, in which were nearly two hun- 
dred wounded men and several women, was set on fire by 
a bursting shell. 

Desperate attempts were made by the surgeons in charge 
to remove their helpless patients, but outside help was needed, 
for the house was burning rapidly, and there was not a 
moment to be lost. Riding up to our Regiment, then the 
nearest to the burning building, General Hancock directed 
Wm. S. Shallenberger, adjutant, to make a detail to assist 



7o THE ONE HUNDRED AXD FORTIETH REGIMENT 

in the rescue. Company F, in the immediate vicinity, was 
promptly selected by him for this perilous duty. Thomas 
Henry, the Captain of the company, at once sprang- up and 
calling to his men to follow, rushed up to the building, and, 
entering- it by the east door, brought out 33 wounded soldiers 
and three women. The provost guard and details from some 
other regiments in reach assisted in this rescue. So far as 
known all of the occupants of the house were removed or 
went out unaided, before the roof and side walls fell in. Dr. 
Fisher, Assistant Surgeon of the One Hundred and Forty- 
eighth Pennsylvania, who had been detailed for duty with the 
wounded in the Chancellor House makes mention of a room 
full of wounded Confederate, and of several women, all of 
whom were taken out by the rescue parties. Captain Henry, 
(afterwards promoted to rank of Major) mentions the fact 
that he came out of the house with one woman on each ami, 
the other holding to his coat tail. They were taken to the 
Chandler House, then occupied as a hospital inside the new 
line of battle. Alvin Taylor, of Company F. one of the rescue 
party, makes the statement, which is corroborated by others, 
that Tames A. Carson, the first man to rise in response to his 
Captain's command was instantly killed ; another. Joseph 
Baker, quickly met the same fate, while four others were 
wounded in attempting- to do the work for which they were 
detailed. 

Meanwhile, at the same end of the line, a detad was 
made under charge of Captain Linton, to take off the guns and 
caissons of the disabled battery, which had lost all its officers 
and nearly all its horses and men. In response to this call, 
a number of men from Companies D. C and II. rose to their 
feet, threw down their ritles, and following the lead of Cap- 
tain Linton, took off two guns and as many caissons into the 
woods where they were out of sight and range of the e iemy.* 
It is evident from a comparison of records that details of 
other commands assisted in the removing- of the remaining 

♦For the names of several men on this detail and other interest- 
ing facts see page 317. 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 71 

pieces. This fact, which we willingly concede, detracts nothing* 
from the honor due to the brave men of the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Regiment, who took the initiative in this act. Neither 
does it detract in the least from the honor due to the men 
of Company F, that brave men of other commands assisted 
in the rescue of the imperilled occupants of the Chancellor 
House. 

The silencing and removal of the battery in our front 
opened the way for the unhindered advance of the enemy; 
and, as nothing- further could be gained by holding our 
perilous position, the order was given to withdraw. This 
was followed by another order to "fix bayonets," as the men 
rose to their feet. It was given in anticipation of a charge 
by the Confederate forces, whose skirmishers had already 
reached the plateau which we had been holding. Happily for 
us the enemy hesitated to take advantage of his opportunity 
at this critical moment and we lost no time in falling back 
to the rifle pits which we had left. Here we picked up our 
knapsacks and under the cover of the guns on the new line, 
reached the place assigned us within its defenses. 

At the roll call of the several companies it was found 
that the heaviest losses had been among the men who had been 
posted on the extreme right and left of the regimental line. 
In Company F, at the head of the Regiment, three were killed 
and two wounded; in Company D, two were killed and four 
wounded; in C, one killed and one wounded; in K, four 
wounded, while in Company G, at or near the other end of 
the line, four, including the Second Lieutenant, Joseph W. 
McEwen, were killed. Two of this Company met with the 
loss of an arm, one a right arm and the other the left. Three 
or four more were injured slightly by fragments of shells.* 

*A young soldier belonging to the One Hundred and Forty- 
eighth Pennsylvania, who had got lost from his own regiment, fell 
in with Company G as we were about to advance to the Chancellor 
House, remarking as he did so that he would stand by the One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth. He was in the rear rank of the company in 
support of the battery and was killed by a shell. No one present 
seemed to know his name or company, and his body, which was 
mangled beyond recognition, doubtless fills an unknown grave some- 
where on that bloody field. 



72 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Two of the companies were absent on the picket line which 
had been held so bravely by Colonel Miles. The position of 
the companies present was as follows : F, D, I, C, H, E, K, 
G. In this position. Company F was nearest the Chancellor 
House and on the left of the line owing to the fact that the 
Regiment had been about faced before we went up to the 
Chancellor House. 

The losses in the Fifth Maine Battery were six men killed 
and nineteen wounded. Captain Lepine, the Commander, was 
killed before the battery could be put into position and soon 
after both of his Lieutenants were carried off the field des- 
perately wounded. Forty-three horses belonging to the bat- 
tery were killed or disabled. In a magazine article published 
some years ago, a sergeant who stood by his gun until all the 
remaining pieces were silenced, gives a thrilling account of 
the scene at the Chancellor House in which he was both a 
witness and an actor. From this description entitled, "A 
Battery at Chancellorsville," we give some brief extracts 
which bear directly upon the incidents above mentioned: 

When we reached the crest, he says, our Captain rode 
rapidly forward to inspect the ground. Turning to the Aide 
(of General Couch) he said: "I can take my battery in 
here, but no power on earth can take it out again." "Take 
it in." And without a thought, except for the doomed men, 
and that he might do his duty, he ordered his battery in. It 
was past ten o'clock of that sultry Sunday morning. Before 
the battery could be put into position Captain Lepine was 
mortally wounded and removed from the field. 

As we moved out of the belt of woods into the open, a 
line of infantry, perhaps six hundred yards from us, opened 
from the center to right and left, and moved into the woods 
to cover, unmasking three batteries which knew our distance 
to a foot, as it seemed to us, so deadly accurate was their 
fire. Our right rested on the woods and our left on the 
Chancellor House. It did not seem a minute before the air 
was full of the pieces from bursting shell, or crackling 
spherical case shot, or whistling minnies. No one dared to 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 73 

raise a hand unnecessarily for fear of having it pierced by 
the one or the other. The air was beaten by the sudden 
and doubly continuous shocks of the rapid discharges, till 
it palpitated like the heart of an animal too frightened to run 
away. A bird would have been beaten about by these com- 
mingling waves as a boat is tossed by the whirlpools below 
Niagara. The trees in the open were torn into fragments. 
The wooden outbuildings were blown into splinters. The 
Chancellor House was set on fire. Men and horses dropped 
on either hand. Within twenty minutes the four guns next 
the woods were silenced. Then those eighteen guns in our 
front and the infantry lurking all around us poured all their 
fire unchecked on the two guns next the house, which still 
kept pounding away at the enemy concealed in the woods. 
A chest of ammunition with over forty pounds of powder in 
it exploded close by, but no one knew it until the eye noted 
its absence. After each of the two guns left had fired 
about sixty round there remains one gun with a battered 
face and with only the sergeant left to work it : another with 
a broken wheel and only the gunner left for duty. All the 
rest, officers and men, are dead or wounded or have been 
driven back into the woods. The two who are left could do 
no more. The gunners spike two of the guns which seem 
in danger of immediate capture. The sergeant, however, 
succeeds in finding a detail of infantry who fix the prologue 
and draw the guns back into the woods.* 

This vivid description of one of the most heroic stands 
against overwhelming odds in the history of the Civil War, 
corresponds in every detail with the observations and experi- 
ences of men of the supporting regiments. The report of Gen- 
eral Zook, the Brigade commander, which had been lost for 
many years, has at last come to light and gives some valuable 
information with respect to the events just described. The fol- 
lowing quotation is from the portion of it which relates to 
the part taken by the One Hundred and Fortieth on the 3d 
of May. 

On the morning of the 3rd some regiments having been 
withdrawn from the rifle pits on my right, the One Hundred 
and Fortieth was moved in that direction to maintain con- 

*See Report of General Zook, page 74. 



74 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT . 

nection with those which remained. In this new position 
the regiment lost some men killed and wounded. Subse- 
quently the One Hundred and Fortieth was moved to the 
support of a battery on the right of the Chancellorsville 
House, the Fifth Maine. 

Half an hour after taking this position the house caught 
fire. Being filled with our wounded, a company of the One 
Hundred and Fortieth was ordered to assist in their removal, 
which duty was well performed under very severe fire. 
Another detail of forty men was made to bring off the guns 
of the battery above named, which had lost all its officers 
and nearly all of its men and horses. This detail first drove 
two caissons into the woods out of the enemy's sight and 
then returned and removed two guns to the same position. 
It was then and there they first saw men of any other brigade. 
Some men of the Second and Fourth Brigades assisted part 
of the detail to bring off their guns, whilst the remainder 
went back for the other three, which they found some men 
of the Second and Fourth Brigades were endeavoring to 
remove. Lieutenant Linton, of the One Hundred and For- 
tieth, in charge of the detail, ordered some of his men to 
assist with each gun until they reached a place of safety, 
which was done. The gun detail and that for the removal 
of the wounded necessarily left their arms with the regiment, 
which moved away in obedience to orders during their 
absence. In this way some rifles were lost, although many 
of the men and some of the officers carried off quite an 
armload of pieces. Conspicuous among the latter was Lieu- 
tenant Stokes, who abandoned his rations, blankets, etc., for 
that purpose. * * * I am happy to express entire satis- 
faction with the conduct of my command. 

(Signed) S. K. Zook, 
Brigadier-General. 
Headquarters Third Brigade, First Division, 

Second Corps. 
May 12, 1863. 

This official statement made by the Brigade Commander, 
May 1 2th, 1863, — nine days after the events it describes — 
effectually disposes of the random assertion, first made by 
irresponsible newspaper correspondents, that all the guns of 
Lepine's battery were taken off by men of the Irish Brigade. 
This famous organization was — in the estimation of some of 
these imaginative writers, like the "Black Horse Cavalry," 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 75 

or the "Louisiana Tigers," — supposed to be everywhere pres- 
ent and to perform all the deeds of heroism, which were done 
in the command to which they belonged. This we might pass 
without further comment were it not for the published state- 
ment in the sketch of the One Hundred and Sixteenth Penn- 
sylvania, prepared for Bates' History of Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers, which affirms without qualification that the battalion 
then commanded by Colonel Mulholland, regardless of the 
deadly missiles which swept that devoted ground, rushed for- 
ward, seized the guns and through the mud and mire into 
which the ground had been trodden, dragged them off, and 
brought them all safely to the point where the reserve artil- 
lery was parked." The statement attributing all the credit of 
this action to the battalion above named is so manifestly un- 
fair, and so flagrantly at variance with the report of General 
Zook and the statement of General Walker, already quoted, 
who connects with it the Fifty-third and the One Hundred 
and Fortieth Regiments — as well as with an accumulation of 
evidence furnished by those who were witnesses of it — that 
it defeats its own purposes and makes a fuller refutation unnec- 
essary. At a later date, January 5th, 1905, Colonel Mulhol- 
land admits that in passing down the road after hauling off 
the guns he found about a dozen men of the One Hundred and 
Fortieth, who had come out of the woods, apparently "off 
the picket line," who took hold and "helped us off with one 
of the guns." In making this statement, we presume that 
he was not aware of the fact that Captain Linton's detail 
had already taken off two guns with their caissons into the 
woods, nor that the men whom he found coming out of the 
woods were not "coming in off picket," but were returning 
for the remaining guns which they, his brave men, helped 
them to haul off. More than is justly our due as a Regiment, 
we do not claim, but we do assert that the initiative was taken 
by the detail taken from it under Captain Linton, and that 
it afterwards shared in the honor of removing the pieces 
which still remained. After a lapse of nearly fifty years, it 
seems to be high time to correct such misapprehensions and 
misstatements as the above mentioned, founded on imperfect 



76 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

knowledge ; and in all fairness, to give honor where honor 
is due. 

Behind the strong defenses of the new line of battle the 
wearied, powder-begrimed men of Hancock's Division, in 
whose ears the din of battle had sounded continuously for 
seven hours of that Sabbath morning, a quiet, much needed 
rest was enjoyed for the remainder of the day. On the after- 
noon of the day following a heavy detail was made from the 
Regiment for picket duty outside the broad belt of slashed 
timber in front of our line. A narrow pathway led down to 
the position which was occupied by the men we were expected 
to relieve: and the moment we appeared on the other side of 
the breast-work, a battery which had been trained upon it 
opened fire upon us. This unexpected demonstration greatly 
accelerated the speed of the little party, some of whom were 
seen to dodge as they ran, but no serious harm was done by the 
flying missiles which were hurled against them. Several at- 
tacks were made by the enemy on this part of the picket line 
during the night, and at intervals the next day. So dense was 
the undergrowth in the wilderness section below us that we 
could hear the approach of the enemy's skirmish line before 
we could see them. During the night it was necessary to be 
on the alert every moment to guard against surprise, and yet, 
despite this danger, many of the sentries were so overpowered 
with weariness that they fell asleep at their posts. When the 
officer who was in charge of the picket detail came to the 
posts in our section he was greatly excited and cried out in a 
despairing tone: "My God! What shall I do! Nearly every 
man along this line is asleep." Fortunately for all concerned 
our picket line was not attacked at that hour of the night, and 
probably for the reason that our opponents had as much as 
they could do, at the same time, to keep awake. When the 
supports were called out to assist in repelling an attack each 
man took to a tree and behind this cover did his part in keep- 
ing up a fusillade until the enemy came to a realization of the 
fact that we were not to be caught napping. During one ot 
these minor engagements Samuel McBride, of Company G, 
was struck by a minie ball in the forehead, directly above the 



THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 77 

bridge of the nose and fell to the ground, as one dead. To 
the great surprise of those who were near him he sprang to 
his feet after a brief moment of unconsciousness and with a 
dazed look staggered back along the pathway through the 
slashed timber to the main line. Supposing that he was try- 
ing to escape from his post of duty an officer on the works 
halted him with a drawn revolver. His attitude toward him 
quickly changed, however, when he saw the ball sticking 
fast in his forehead. This missile, which the writer held 
for a moment in his hand, a few days later, had penetrated 
the outer layer of the frontal bones and made a deep dent in 
the forehead without inflicting a mortal wound. With this 
visible token of devotion on the forefront of his honest face, 
young McBride was discharged from the service ; and, for 
well nigh forty-five years, has been a preacher of the gospel 
in Western Pennsylvania. After one of these encounters with 
the enemy the undergrowth below us was set on fire, whether 
by accident or design we do not know, but inasmuch as a 
brisk wind was blowing our direction it spread rapidly and 
came like the crest of an advancing wave upon us. Falling 
back from the outposts we joined forces with a body of men 
who came to our relief and at last succeeded in beating out 
the flames at the very edge of the broad belt of slashed timber. 
This accomplished, we went back, through the blackened 
waste and smoldering embers, to form the line anew at or near 
its former location. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon a storm of wind and 
rain burst upon us and quickly drowned out the smouldering 
fires. For three hours or more the rain came down in tor- 
rents, cooling the atmosphere and drenching all who were 
exposed to it to the skin. About this time vague rumors came 
to our ears that the men on the main line were falling back 
from the entrenchments with a view to recrossing the river. 
This was confirmed by the arrival of a relief force who took 
our places in order that we might have the opportunity to 
return to the main line, gather up our belongings and take a 
brief rest. A good while before daybreak we were aroused 
from the deep sleep into which we had fallen, regardless of 



78 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

rain, watersoaked ground or garments, and were hurried off 
after those who had preceded us, in the direction of the United 
States Ford. The artillery, wagon trains and ambulances 
which had gone on during the night made the roads almost 
impassable. The mud and water through which we waded 
was frequently knee deep and some of the men had its un- 
sightly discolorment on their clothing almost to their armpits. 
When we reached the open space near the Ford, we 
found a great host of men, massed by divisions and corps 
waiting for their turn to cross on the pontoon bridges. 

"Had the enemy known this," says Carl Schurz, "and 
succeeded in planting one battery in a position from which 
it might have pitched its shells into this dense mass of 
humanity, substantially helpless in its huddled condition, 
the consequences would have baffled the imagination. A 
wild panic would have been unavoidable, and a large part of 
the Army of the Potomac would have perished in the 
swollen waters of the Rappahannock. But, as it turned out, 
General Lee did not disturb our retreat, and by four o'clock 
in the afternoon — Wednesday — the whole army was safely 
over." 

When the Brigade had crossed the order was given to 
march. It was obeyed with alacrity and before nightfall we 
were back in our old camp. We occupied the huts we had 
left and made ourselves as comfortable as possible until we 
could get new supplies to supplement our imperfect and in- 
adequate outfit. 

The rain continued at intervals for two or three days 
after we had reached Falmouth. We left it on the morn- 
ing of April 28th. We returned to it on the evening of the 
6th of May — eight days thereafter. We left it in high hopes 
and with no thought of returning that way. Despite all our 
efforts we had suffered a disastrous defeat, the outcome of 
which meant the undertaking of a new campaign under cir- 
cumstances which could hardly be more favorable or promis- 
ing. It goes without saying that the Army of the Potomac 
was discouraged and humiliated, but it was not demoralized 
nor unwilling to make a new attempt when the order should 



THE CHANCELLORS^ ILLE CAMPAIGN 79 

again be given. To the men in the ranks there seemed to be 
no good reason for abandoning the second line of defence; 
for in this we felt secure against any attack which might be 
made upon it until the Union army should have been ready to 
resume the offensive. 

We did not know until it came out later that several 
of the leading commanders of divisions and corps favored 
the return of the army, because they had lost confidence in 
the judgment and efficiency of the General commanding. 

"Among those who voted to retreat," says General 
Walker, "was the Commander of the Second Corps, whose 
observation of General Hooker, from the first to the fifth of 
May, had convinced him that no change of disposition and 
no accession of numbers would serve to enable that officer to 
win a victory, in the condition of mind into which he had 
fallen and that a renewal of the fighting would simply mean 
fresh disgrace and increased losses."* 

This judgment was based upon the ill chosen site of the 
low ground about the Chancellor House; upon the failure to 
guard his right flank against sudden attack; upon the failure 
to meet the emergency arising from lack of ammunition from 
supplies near at hand on the morning of the 3rd of May ; 
upon the refusal to reinforce the hard-pressed divisions at the 
front with fresh troops in easy reach ; and the fact that in the 
most critical moments of the same day there were two large 
corps of his army, comprising nearly one-half of his present 
command, — 37,000 men — who were not called into action to 
recover the ground which had been lost or to assist those who 
had been compelled for lack of support to abandon the plateau 
which they had so long and so courageously held. 

The bulk of the losses, according to the official report, 
in the Second Corps, amounting to 1,923, had fallen upon 
Hancock's Division, whose killed, wounded and missing 
reached a total of 1,123. 

In the closing of this campaign as a recent writer has 
happily expressed it : 

♦Walker's History of the Second Army Corps, page 250. 



So THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

The Army of the Potomac sounded the depths of humil- 
iation for the last time. It is to be baffled and resisted by the 
rebels with deathless valor. It is to make appalling sacri- 
fices, to fight battles more bloody than any it has yet seen. 
It is to witness carnage the historian staggers to describe. 
But it is to leave no battlefield except as a victor. Though 
its commander is to be changed once more, its defeats have 
been chronicled for the last time. While its losses will 
startle the world, its failures will furnish no more glaring 
headlines. 

* Brewer's History of the Sixty-first Regiment, Pennsylvania, 
page 58. 

fSee General Hancock's letter to his wife, page 417. 



NORTHWARD FROM FALMOUTH TO GETTYSBURG 81 



CHAPTER VII. 

NORTHWARD FROM FALMOUTH TO GETTYSBURG. 

THE initiative in the new campaign, which was to carry 
us northward to the defense of our own native State, 
was made by the Confederate commander on the third 
day of June, a little less than a month after the return of the 
Union army to its winter camp on the Rappahannock. During 
this interval General Lee reorganized his army, dividing it into 
three large corps, which he placed under command of his able 
Lieutenants Ewell, Hill and Longstreet. The last named 
officer joined the Army of Northern Virginia with two divi- 
sions of well-seasoned troops soon after the battle of Chan- 
cellorsville. Additions were received from other sources at 
later dates, making an effective force of about 70,000 or 75,- 
000 men. 

It was an army elated with recent achievements, proud 
of its able Commander, and, as Longstreet has expressed it, 
"was in condition to undertake anything." 

In the several engagements on the south side of the Rap- 
pahannock — May 1st to 5th — the Army of the Potomac had 
lost, in killed, wounded and missing, an aggregate of 17,197 
men. 

A still larger number of "two years" and "nine months" 
men whose terms of enlistment had expired on or about the 
first of May, withdrew from it, after the return to the north 
side of the river. It is true that a number of these honorably 
discharged men re-enlisted for a further term of three years, 
but to all such a furlough of one month was granted. It 
meant much therefore to this army and its Commander to 
secure a respite, if possible, from active operations for that 
or a longer period of time. 

With all the accessions which could be secured up to the 
first of June, the Union Army, which before the battle of 



82 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Chancellorsville numbered 124,000 men, had an effective force 
all told, of less than 85,000. 

The days of preparation which were thus necessarily spent 
in our winter camp on the Rappannock, were not days of idle- 
ness. As soon as we were safely housed and rationed, the old 
routine of camp life, guard duty, daily drill and dress parades 
was resumed. Picket duty, at regular intervals, was always 
in order, but with the return of the springtime, these two- 
day excursions by the riverside were regarded as a pleasant 
diversion from the ordinary experiences of army life. 

If General Hooker had remained in the strongly en- 
trenched defenses at Bullock's clearing, to which he fell back 
on the third of May, until he was prepared to assume the 
offensive, a secret movement looking to the invasion of north- 
ern territory would not have been possible and the "Wilder- 
ness Campaign" would then have been fought out to the 
finish under circumstances more favorable than any that ob- 
tained under Grant, one year later. But it was not so ordered 
and Gettysburg became a necessity. On the 28th of May, 
General Hooker telegraphed to the Secretary of War that the 
enemy was preparing for an important movement, but the 
object of it was not known to him. In anticipation of this 
movement he issued marching rations to his army on the 
second of June. Four days later, by his order, Sedgwick's 
Corps crossed the river on pontoons and held an intrenched 
line on the Fredericksburg side for several davs. He met 
with spirited opposition at times from the troops of Hill's 
command, but could not get any definite information with 
respect to the movements of the rest of the army. 

On the 9th of June, General Pleasanton, the Commander 
of the Union Cavalry Corps, crossed the river at Beverly Ford 
and at Brandy Station met the Confederate cavalry under 
General Stuart. As the result of a hard day's battle, one of 
the most brilliant cavalry engagements of the war, Stuart's 
purpose in screening the march of the Confederate forces was 
thwarted and information was obtained which made it certain 
that General Lee was heading northward with two of his army 
corps, on the westward side of the Blue Ridge, while Hill was 



NORTHWARD FROM FALMOUTH TO GETTYSBURG 83 

still confronting the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg. 

With a view to guarding the approaches to Washington 
from the lower gaps of the Ridge, Hooker at once put the 
vanguard of his army in motion. Thus it came about that the 
rival armies moved northward to the Potomac, one on the 
west side of this great mountain wall and the other on the 
east, crossing it many miles apart, from Virginia to Maryland. 
The Second and Sixth Corps were left in the positions they 
were occupying until they had sufficient evidence that Hill's 
command had also started on its northward march. 

On the eve of these great events some important changes 
were made in the leadership of the Corps and Division. After 
the battle of Chancellorsville, General Couch, for reasons 
already hinted at, requested to be relieved from his command 
and assigned to duty in another department of the Army. 
This request was granted and General Hancock was assigned 
to the command of the Second Corps, in his stead. 

Brigadier-General Caldwell, who had rendered signal 
service as the commander of the First Brigade, was given the 
command of the First Division, which up to this and for a 
long time after was popularly designated as "Hancock's Di- 
vision." 

On or about the 20th of June, the positions of the com- 
panies in our Regiment were changed for the third and last 
time. The order designated, reading from left to right, was 
as follows : A, E, H, B, I, K, D, G, F, C. This gave to 
Company K the position of color company. 

On the night of the 14th, Sedgwick's troops recrossed 
the river and followed the corps which had preceded it. The 
First Division of the Second Corps, which now became the 
rear guard of the entire army, drew in its pickets by the river 
side at daybreak in the morning of the 15th, and as soon as 
as this detail, which was larger than usual, had reached the 
camp the order was given to march. Enveloped in clouds of 
finely powdered dust, which had been pulverized and stirred 
up by passing trains and troops, we took our place in the line 
and moved out to the Alexandria road which led directly to 
Acquia Creek. This was the beginning of our long northward 



84 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

march — a march of over two hundred miles, including its zig- 
zags and detours — which did not end until we had reached 
Gettysburg, in our native State. 

At Stafford Court House we halted for a brief rest and 
then pushed on to Acquia Creek where we bivouacked for the 
night. The 15th of June was one of the hottest days in that 
unusually torrid summer, and the march over the dusty roads 
under the burning sun, was the most trying and fatiguing we 
had yet experienced. Hundreds of strong men fell out by the 
wayside and were left under the protection of the rear guard 
to come up more slowly. All the available ambulances were 
rilled by those that were unable to walk and the surgeons re- 
ported the death of fifteen men who had fallen in their tracks 
from fatigue or sunstroke. The next day was but little better, 
and the same experiences of dust and excessive heat were met 
and endured. 

We camped that night at Wolf Run Shoals on the Ocu- 
quan River. A few moments after the order had been given 
to break ranks, the stream was fairly alive with bathers. How 
refreshing it was to plunge into this clear flood of running 
water after the long day's march under a burning sun and 
amid the ever present clouds of dust. Up to this time the men 
had suffered from excessive thirst. The only opportunity to 
get water while on the march, was to make a dash from the 
ranks and as quickly to return to them, in order to avoid the 
imputation of straggling. Sometimes there was not a drop of 
water in sight for miles and too often the only supply we did 
find by the way was in muddy streams or stagnant pools, 
along whose borders dead horses or mules were lying. 

On the 17th the march was resumed to Fairfax Station 
on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, where we remained 
in line of battle in anticipation of an attack from Stuart's 
cavalry, until the afternoon of the 19th, when the corps pushed 
on to Centreville. 

On the 2 1 st we moved to Thoroughfare Gap, encamp- 
ing for the night near the town of Gainsville at the entrance to 
the Gap. On our way to this place, we passed directly over 
the battlefield of Bull Run. The second great battle on this 



NORTHWARD FROM FALMOUTH TO GETTYSBURG 85 

bloody field, under General Pope, had been more disastrous 
to the Union Army than the first, and the evidences of this 
fearful conflict were visible on every hand. Many mounds 
were passed where the dead had been hastily buried by heaping 
loose soil over them, which the rains had washed away, leav- 
ing skeletons of arms, hands, feet, skulls and other part of 
the body more or less exposed. Broken equipments, buckles, 
cartridge boxes, belts and torn clothing, some blue and others 
gray, were still lying on the surface of the ground. Every 
tree and house in sight was riddled with minie balls or torn 
and gashed with shot and shell. It was a sad, gruesome and 
never-to-be-forgotten sight. 

Our object in making this detour from the course to 
Thoroughfare Gap was to find out, if possible, what General 
Hill was doing with the rear guard of the Confederate Army. 
On the evening of the first day of our stay at Gainsville there 
was some cannonading in our front, and we were cautioned 
to be on the alert against a night attack. A little after 
midnight there were indications of a fierce conflict at Hay- 
market, about three miles nearer to the Gap, during the con- 
tinuance of which the town of Haymarket was burned to the 
ground. This conflict, as we afterwards learned, was between 
some of our cavalry and the advance guard of General Stuart's 
command. The appearance of the famous cavalry commander 
of the Confederates at this time, was entirely unexpected and 
the disposition which he made of his forces with a view to 
cutting off the Second Corps from the rest of the army, made 
the situation of Zook's Brigade at Gainesville extremely peril- 
ous. For several hours it was entirely cut off from communi- 
cation with the rest of the troops of its own division and corps. 
From this perilous position we escaped by a rapid march and 
by a different route than that which we had expected to take, 
on the morning of June 25th. With reference to this critical 
situation, General Walker says: 

It chanced that, just as the corps was withdrawing from 
the Gap, the Confederate cavalry, under General Stuart, 
were passing through New Baltimore toward Gainesville, 



96 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

upon that raid which was destined to cause to Lee the loss 
of nearly his whole cavalry force throughout the highly 
critical movement he was conducting. At the little town of 
Haymarket, where Hancock's line of march turned to the 
north, Stuart opened fire upon our rear division, the Second, 
killing or wounding several men. Still further annoyance 
was caused hy this unexpected appearance of the Confed- 
erate cavalry, inasmuch as Zook's brigade of the First 
Division, which was at Gainesville, was temporarily cut off 
from communication with the rest of the corps, and several 
messengers passing between Hancock and Zook were cap- 
tured, among them Captain Johnson, of the Sixth New York 
Cavalry, the commander of the corps headquarters' escort. 

The hurried march which was made to extricate ourselves 
from this Confederate trap was one of the most trying and 
wearisome on the long journey northward in pursuit of Gen- 
eral Lee. From early morning until far into the night there 
were almost continuous showers of rain. Much of the way 
before us was up grade and the red Virginia clay clogged our 
feet and seriously impeded our progress. At Gum Springs, 
one of the halting places of General Braddock on his way to 
Fort Duquesne, one hundred and eight years before, we 
bivouacked for the night. It was about nine o'clock when 
we reached this place and here we rejoined our corps after 
several days of isolation and anxious solicitude. We were 
wet to the skin and too weary and indifferent to make fires, 
much as we longed for a steaming cup of coffee. In some 
cases shelter tents were hastily pitched, but most of the men 
wrapped their blankets about them and slept under the drip- 
ping branches of the pine grove in which we had been halted. 
Next morning we started early and marched rapidly through 
rain and mud until noon, the rain having ceased a short time 
before. By this time the warmth of our bodies had dried the 
water-soaked clothing in which we had marched and slept and 
when the sky cleared, the discomforts of the way were speedily 
forgotten. In the evening we reached Edwards' Ferry on the 
Potomac, where we found a long pontoon bridge which had 
been recently constructed by the Engineer Corps. Some of 
the Army Corps which had preceded us were here in the im- 



NORTHWARD FROM FALMOUTH TO GETTYSBURG 87 

mediate vicinity. We went into bivouac by the riverside 
awaiting our turn to cross, which did not come until after 
midnight. We then marched about four miles farther and 
wene into camp for a few hours of rest. On the 28th we 
reached Monocacy Junction, near Frederick. Before cross- 
ing the Potomac, the troops were cautioned against the appro- 
priation of live stock or food products of any kind and this 
injunction was strictly observed. It was not so easy, however, 
to give up the privilege of appropriating the rails or boards 
of the fences in the vicinity of the places of encampment. To 
provide camp fires for a great army like ours in a friendly 
country was not an easy matter, especially where the stay 
was only for one night. The men could not go to the forests 
and cut wood, nor could they get it anywhere in quantities 
sufficient for their needs unless they took it from the fences 
beside them. One order was to the effect that we might 
take broken rails. This was literally interpreted and the man 
who could not find a broken rail to cook his coffee, straightway 
proceeded to break the first one that came to hand, and then 
carried it away in triumph. The portion of Maryland into 
which we were so unceremoniously conducted was rich and 
singularly beautiful. This was especially true of the country 
in the vicinity of Frederick and the South Mountain. 

On the 29th of June the Second Corps made the most 
memorable march of this wearisome northward journey. The 
order directing it was carelessly laid upon the desk of the 
Adjutant-General of the Corps, by the orderly who brought 
it, and was not noticed until about eight o'clock in the morn- 
ing. It proved to be an imperative order for a march to a 
point beyond Uniontown, Md., w r hich was 32 miles from our 
place of bivouac. Through that long, sultry day and a part 
of the night following, we tramped over the dusty road with 
blistered feet and heavy loads without pausing long enough to 
make coffee or cook a meal. General Walker speaks of it as 
"a day of tremendous exertions" and such in truth it was. 
The only drink we could take, without delaying the column, 
was the warm, insipid, and oftimes muddy water in our 
canteen, and the only solid food available was a mouthful of 



SS THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

"hardtack," now and then, which we munched as we moved 
along. Giving the bridges to the wagon trains and artillery, 
we forded all the streams in our way. as we had done for 
days before. Sometimes we stopped long enough on the far- 
ther side to pour the water out of our shoes, but in no case 
could one tarry long, lest the men behind should be delayed 
or thrown out of their position in the line. During the day. 
and especially toward evening, hundreds fell out by the way 
from mere exhaustion. It was near midnight when the ob- 
jective point of the long march was reached and those who 
attained to it were probably less than one-third of the entire 
corps. 

Many of these overspent marchers came up during the 
night, and still more, perhaps during the following day, which 
was passed quietly in camp. 

A pleasant feature of this memorable day was the warm 
and enthusiastic greetings we received from men, women and 
children in every one of the Maryland towns through which 
we passed. At Frederick and Uniontown refreshments were 
freely offered at the gates of residences and by the side of the 
streets, and many a kind word and "God bless you, boys," 
rang in our ears and cheered our hearts, as we pressed onward 
to the greatest battlefield' of the war. 

One of the most depressing and painful experiences of 
the forced marches which the troops were compelled to make, 
during these long summer days, was caused by foot sores in 
varying degrees of chafing and inflammation. Some of the 
men suffered so much from blistered and swollen feet that 
they could not wear their shoes, and there were many, as we 
neared the border of Pennsylvania, who had to be carried a 
part, or the whole of the time, in ambulances. The man who 
did not have a limp in his gait in those trying days was a rare 
exception among his fellows. 

While in this camp awaiting further developments, we 
received the official notification that General Hooker, at his 
own request, had been relieved from the command of the 
Army of the Potomac, and that Major-General George G. 
Meade, the Commander of the Fifth Corps, had been assigned 



NORTHWARD FROM FALMOUTH TO GETTYSBURG 

to this responsible position in his stead. This was a genuine 
surprise to the men of the rank and file, but in general it 
was received with favor and ready acquiescence. 

Upon assuming the command, General Meade issued the 
following order : 

J J E A IXJ U A KT Kl< S Al(MY I- 71 J h POTO M A C. 

June 28, 1H63. 
By direction of the President of the United States, I 
hereby assume command of the Army of the Potomac. As a 
soldier, in obeying this order — an order totally unexpected 
and unsolicited — I have no promises nor pledges to make. 
The country looks to this army to relieve it from the devas- 
tation and disgrace of a hostile invasion. Whatever fatigues 
and sacrifices we may be called upon to undergo, let us have- 
in view constantly the magnitude of the interests involved, 
and let each man determine to do his duty, leaving to an all- 
controlling Providence the decision of the contest. It is 
with just diffidence that I relieve of the command of this 
army an eminent and accomplished soldier, whose name must 
ever appear conspicuous in the history of its achievements; 
but I rely upon the hearty support of my companions in 
arms to assist me in the discharge of the duties of the 
important trust which has been confided to me. 

George G. Mkade, 

Major-General Commanding. 

On the first of July, little knowing what the day was to 
bring forth, we started out early from our temporary camp 
near Uniontown. After going a few miles on the road we 
were halted and ordered back to it. We then took the direct 
road to Taneytown, which we reached at noon, having covered 
a distance of about fourteen miles. We had heard the boom 
of artillery at intervals during the morning, but supposed 
it was an indication that the cavalry in our front had met with 
some of the advance guards of the Confederate Army. While 
we rested at the c<]^c of Taneytown awaiting an order to go 
into camp, a messenger came from the front with the start- 
ling intelligence that a great battle was in progress with Lee's 
army on the northwest side of the town of Gettysburg in 
Pennsylvania. There were vague rumors, also, which proved 



90 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

to be only too true, that the two corps, which had met the 
enemy, the First and Eleventh, had been overpowered and 
badly worsted in the conflict, and that General Reynolds, the 
commanding officer, had been killed or seriously wounded. A 
little later it was reported among the troops that General Han- 
command. The official order which explained this hurried 
cock had started for the front in hot haste in advance of his 
departure was as follows: 

Headquarters Army of the Potomac 
July i, 1863, 1.10 P. M. 
Command ins;- Officer Second Corps: 

The Major-General Commanding has just been informed 
that General Reynolds has been killed or badly wounded. 
He directs that you turn over the command of your corps to 
General Gibbon ; that you proceed to the front, and by 
virtue of this order, in ease of the truth of General Reynolds' 
death, you assume command of the corps there assembled, 
viz, the Eleventh, First and Third, at Errrmitsburg. If you 
think the ground and position there a better one on which 
to fight a battle under existing circumstances, you will so 
advise the General and he will order all the troops up. You 
know the General's views, and General Warren, who is rally 
aware of them, has gone out to see General Reynolds. 

(Signed) George G. Meade, 

Major-General Commanding. 

At half past three o'clock. Hancock appeared on the 
ridge, tiow known as Cemetery Hill. On the left the remnants 
of the First Corps were forming- under cover of Buford's cav- 
alrv brigades, while a broad tumultuous stream of panic- 
stricken men, mingled with ambulances, artillery and ammu- 
nition wagons were hurrying out along the Baltimore Road. 
Behind the rearmost of this struggling host were the advance 
of the Confederates who had pursued them closely through 
the town. To stop the rush 0! these shattered regiments and 
reform them along the line of Cemetery Hill was Hancock's 
first and most pressing duty ami in this he was ably seconded 
by General Howard, the commander of the Eleventh Corps. 
With the splendid tact and ardent enthusiasm which ever 
characterized this prince of leaders in the heat of battle, the 




EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF MAJ.-GEN. W. S. HANCOCK 
SCENE OF PICKETT'S CHARGE. 



NORTHWARD FROM FALMOUTH TO GETTYSBURG 91 

hesitating were brought to decision, the disheartened were 
rallied to their colors, the lines were rectified, batteries of 
artillery were planted on the heights and at every available 
point a brave front was presented to the enemy. At half past 
four a semblance of order had been brought out of the con- 
fusion and Hancock sent an officer of his staff to General 
Meade with the message that Gettysburg offered a suitable 
position for a battle and advised the concentration of the army 
at that point. Meanwhile the Second Corps, in anticipation 
of this decision, was making a forced march toward it. Gen- 
eral Meade was with it when the message of Hancock was 
received, and a few moments later, hurried forward with his 
staff to the front. An ambulance containing the dead body 
of General Reynolds, which was being sent to the rear, passed 
us in the evening. Crossing the line between Maryland and 
Pennsylvania after nightfall we push on through the dark- 
ness, with brief pauses of a few moments only for rest, until 
nearly two o'clock on the morning of the 2d of July. We 
were then about two miles from Gettysburg and within sup- 
porting distance of the troops already assembled there. By 
direction of General Hancock, who met us at this point, we 
unslung our knapsacks and rested until near the hour of day- 
break. Our halting place was in a wheat field and the golden 
grain upon which we slept was almost ripe for the sickle. 
Some of the men were so overpowered with weariness that 
they fell asleep almost as soon as their bodies touched the 
ground. There were others, however, equally wearied, per- 
haps, in body, whose minds were too active with thoughts of 
home and of the day of decision just before them to yield so 
quickly to the insistent strain of overwrought nerves or the 
drowsy influences about them. 

Resting side by side in the grainfield that night were two 
young men of the same company, who were residents of the 
same town and had been students of the same college. After 
a few moments of silence one said to the other: "Stewart, do 
you think you will come out of this battle alive and some day 
get back to the old home again?" "Well 'Ben' " said his friend 
in reply. "We're going into a great battle to-day. Many 



92 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

must fall before it is ended. God only knows how it will be 
with us." After another brief pause the first speaker replied: 
"I've been thinking about this for some time and I have a pre- 
sentiment that I will see the end of this war and get back to 
old Canonsburg. I would like to sing again in the choir of 
the old church on the hill and somehow I feel that this desire 
of my heart will be realized." These in substance were the 
words spoken. Before the shadows of the night of July 2nd 
had fallen over the earth the young soldier, who on the eve of 
battle had expressed this hope, was sleeping his last sleep on 
the advance line of battle beyond another wheat field, which 
will ever be known as the "whirlpool" of the Gettysburg battle. 

After a rest of about two hours we were aroused from 
sleep, and without waiting to make fires, the command was 
given to "fall in," this, as it turned out, was to be the last 
stage of the northward journey. The Taneytown road on 
which we were marching, brought us past the Round Tops 
to the left of the Union line. The Third and Second Divisions 
which had preceded us were posted farther to the right along 
the ridge of Cemetery Hill. 

For some time after its arrival the First Division was 
massed in the woods to the right of the Taneytown road. 

Here at last we reached the objective point of our long 
series of marches and here, as an overruling Providence had 
decreed it, was to be settled the issue for weal or woe of Gen- 
eral Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania. 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 93 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG. 

Once this soft turf, this rivulet's sands 
Were trampled by a hurrying crowd, 

And fiery hearts and armed hands 
Encountered in the battle cloud. 

Ah ! never shall the land forget, 

How gushed the life-blood of her brave, — 

Gushed, warm with hope and courage yet, 
Upon the soil they fought to save. 

Now all is calm and fresh and still; 

Alone the chirp of flitting bird, 
And talk of children on the hill, 

And bell of wandering kine, are heard. 

No solemn host goes trailing by 
The black-mouthed gun and staggering wane; 

Men start not at the battle cry, — 
O, be it never heard again ! 

William Cullen Bryant. 

There are more monuments on the Gettysburg field 
than on all other battlefields that have marked the history 
of the human race. — Nelson A. Miles, Lieutenant-General, 
United States Army. 

Waterloo decreed the destiny of France, of England, 
of Europe. Gettysburg, not so directly or immediately, but 
practically decided the fate of the Confederacy. — General 
John B. Gordon, of the Confederate Army. 

IN the clear light of the sun, which had risen in a cloudless 
of the singularly beautiful and varied landscape which 
sky on the morning of the Second of July, all the features 
was now spread before us, came out sharply and distinctly. 



94 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Our position was on the lower slope of a well defined 
ridge which extended almost due south from the Gettysburg 
Cemetery, on the crest of the ridge, to Little Round Top, a 
bold, rock-covered peak, which closed the view in that direc- 
tion. Behind us was the broad, shallow, rock-strewn bed of a 
stream, appropriately designated as "Rock Creek." This val- 
ley was edged by a strip of timber land, which with breaks 
here and there, extended to a more densely wooded section at 
the base and along the ridge of Little Round Top. In the 
foreground, facing to the west, was a broad, undulating plain, 
divided for the most part into fruitful fields with here and 
there a clump of trees, or a farmhouse with its outbuildings 
and barn. On the horizon line beyond was another ridge 
almost parallel with the one upon which we were standing 
which bounded the western side of the plain before us. This 
we were told was the defensive line of the Confederate army, 
but they were so well concealed by a strip of woodland which 
skirted the ridge in our front that we should not otherwise 
have known of their presence in that location. 

It does not appear to have been the original intention of 
either of the commanding officers who faced each other on 
these ridges to select this place for a decisive battle. It was 
rather the logic of events partly beyond control which brought 
them here. And yet there were two remarkable features of 
the landscape as they found it which made it a most favorable 
site for such a contest. 

One was the two parallel ridges running north and south, 
to which reference has just been made. The western ridge 
took its name from the Theological Seminary of the Lutheran 
Church which for several years had crowned a well-chosen 
outlook on its summit. It was almost continuous and afforded 
some choice locations for the planting of artillery. Behind it 
the Confederates found a sufficient water supply in Willough- 
by Run. Directly south of the town the eastern ridge bends 
sharply to the right, forming two rocky and densely wooded 
knolls, known as Culp's and Spangler's Hills. In outline it 
resembled a fish hook. "Cemetery Ridge forming the shank, 
Cemetery Hill the curve, and Culp's Hill the end of the hook." 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 95 

The line of battle which was formed on the crest of this ridge 
was about four and a half miles long. The Confederate line 
was nearly the same in outline, but being the outer line was 
about five and a half miles long. The right of this line was 
held by Longstreet ; the center by Hill ; the left by Ewell.* The 
distance between the two ridges varied from fourteen to six- 
teen hundred yards. 

The second remarkable feature is the convergence of ten 
well-kept roads, centering from every point of the compass in 
this quaint old Pennsylvania town; almost as regularly as the 
spokes of a wagon wheel at the hub. This is the more re- 
markable in view of the fact that Gettysburg at that time had 
less than three thousand inhabitants. 

General Meade utilized four of these roads in concentrat- 
ing his army. On the Emmitsburg road Buford's Cavalry, 
the First, Third and Eleventh Corps, coming from the south- 
west, made their march. From the south the Second Corps 
approached by the Taneytown road ; from the southeast the 
Sixth and Twelfth Corps by way of the Baltimore Pike, while 
from the east came the Fifth corps and the cavalry divisions 
under Gregg and Kilpatrick. 

On the other side of the town the Confederate forces 
under command of Ewell approached from the north and 
northeast over the Mummasburg, Carlisle, Harrisburg and 
York roads, while those under Hill and Longstreet came 
from the northwest and west over the Chambersburg roads. 

Thus it appears that General Meade made use of four 
of these lines of approach and General Lee of six. As a 
recent writer has put it : 

From these unusual facilities for the movement and 
concentration of large bodies of troops, together with the 
conformation of the surrounding hills and fields, it would 
seem as if Gettysburg had been designed by nature for a 
battlefield. 

♦The Confederate corps corresponded with the grand divisions 
of Burnside's army. Hence these were only three corps in number. 



96 THE ONE HUNDRED AXD FORTIETH REGIMENT 

YVe should rather say, in view of all the facts before us, 
that it was designed by the Lord of Hosts, the Supreme Ruler 
of the Universe, who watches over the destinies of men and 
nations, to be the "valley of decision," in which the great ques- 
tions so long at issue between the North and the South, relat- 
ing to the integrity of the nation and the perpetuation of 
human slavery, were to be settled at once and for all time. 

The troops which had arrived on the ground up to noon 
of July 2d, were disposed as follows: 

On the right wing, under General Slocum, were the 
Twelfth and First Corps, extending from Culp's Hill to Zeig- 
ler's Grove on Cemetery Hill, — the right centre of the line. 
South of Zeigler's Grove was the Second Corps ; Hay's Divi- 
sion being on the right. Gibbon's in the centre and Caldwell's 
First Division on the left. This Division occupied the left 
centre of the line, connecting with the Third Corps which ex- 
tended to the base of Little Round Top. The Fifth Corps, 
under Sykes, marched from Hanover during the night and 
on its arrival took position in reserve on or near the base of 
Round Top. The Sixth Corps, under Sedgwick, which made 
a forced march of about thirty-four miles in eighteen hours, 
did not reach the field until four o'clock in the afternoon. It 
was posted, as the several divisions arrived, in the rear as a 
reserve and portions of it did good service where most needed 
in the final conflict on the left, about nightfall. 

In connection with the rectification of the line during the 
forenoon the First Division was moved from its first halting 
place to a position on the west side of the Taneytown road 
directly behind the main line of battle. Here in touch with 
Gibbon's Division on the right and the Third Corps on the 
left, it was massed by brigades in column of regiments.* 

While in this position someone remarked that it was an 
unusual thing for Hancock's old Division to be held in reserve. 



*& 



*In the accompanying sketch the positions of the several corps 
at 9 o'clock A. M. July 2d is indicated. The Fifth and Sixth did 
not arrive until later, and were then assigned temporarily to positions 
on the left of the line. 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 



97 




GettysBurg 



July 2*1863 \l '?i&und Top ^ ^ 

Union Lines —____<!?• * 

Confederate Lines 



= 



98 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

"Yis," said an Irishman, nearby, "resarved it is, for the hard 
fight in'." This proved to be a correct forecast of the after dis- 
position of the Division when ordered to leave this defensive 
outlook for the whirlpool of the day's strife at the forefront 
of the Union army's advance. 

As the morning wore away the heat of the unclouded sun 
became oppressive. There were some so overcome with fatigue 
that they slept under its burning rays and thus for the time 
were oblivious of the heat and the thirst which tortured their 
comrades, who, while on the alert, were confined to a post of 
duty which offered no grateful shade or immediate prospect 
of relief. 

About ten o'clock the presence of some skirmishers, who 
had been hidden by the tall grass or grain in which they were 
lying, was disclosed by an occasional puff of smoke, but in 
every other respect the scene in our immediate front was 
quiet and peaceful. There was nothing to indicate, even to 
the most practised eye, the presence of an enemy in force, or 
an immediate collision of opposing forces, which was to shake 
a continent for two days; and. with wild tumult and roar, 
to rage around the bases of the Round Tops, Devil's Den, 
Cemetery Heights and Culp's Hill, ceasing not until many 
thousands should fall, and the whole vast field should be fur- 
rowed with shot and shell and drenched with human blood. 

About three o'clock in the afternoon there were evidences 
of unusual activity to the left of the position we occupied. 
The skirmishers in front, lying flat on their faces, began to fire 
more rapidly and continuously. A few moments later a strong 
force of the pioneer corps in Sickles' front went out with axes 
and levelled the board and rail fences directly before them. 
Then it was given us to witness one of the grandest and most 
inspiring sights of the war. It was the advance of the Third 
Corps to a secondary ridge along the line of the Emmitsburg 
road. While the brave, but somewhat reckless, commander of 
this corps had the privilege of rectifying the line he was 
directed to occupy, — viz, from the left of our division to Little 
Round Top — he was not authorized by General Meade to 
take a position almost three-fourths of a mile in advance of the 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 99 

Union lines, or to cut himself off from close touch with all 
the forces then on the left of the line. This he did in making 
that movement on his own responsibility, and unquestionably 
the effect was to imperil thereby the safety of the entire army. 

When General Meade rode out to the left of his line and 
discovered the advanced position which Sickles was taking 
he immediately sent for him, expressing his disapproval of it 
and pointed out the line he expected him to hold. Sickles at 
one proposed to withdraw, we are told, but Meade told him 
he did not think the enemy would permit him to do so without 
a fight. To avert as far as possible the disaster which in his 
judgment was impending, General Meade then ordered the 
Fifth Corps to occupy the position on the line which Sickles 
had abandoned as a rallying place for the Third Corps in 
case it should be driven back. 

Whatever may be said about the wisdom or folly of this 
movement it was certainly executed with great precision and 
skill. The corps was massed in line of battle by brigades with 
flags flying and burnished muskets, at right shoulder shift, 
glittering in the clear sunlight. Those who have described 
this scene almost invariably speak of the bayonets which re- 
flected the brightness of the sunlight, but as every old soldier 
knows, bayonets are never used in battle where cartridges are 
expected to be used. The order to fix bayonets was seldom, 
if ever given, except to make or repel a charge at close range, 
where firing by volley would be inexpedient or impossible. 

In this advance, as far to the left as the eye could see, 
batteries of artillery, ambulance trains and stretcher carriers 
moved in parallel lines in rear of the troops, while staff officers 
and orderlies flew back and forth directing the movements or 
bearing orders from one command to another. While we 
watched with breathless interest the successful occupation of 
the ridge which General Sickles had risked so much to reach 
we were not in a position to see the batteries of nearly sixty 
guns which Longstreet was planting to sweep the crest of 
that ridge or the force of more than 20,000 veteran troops 
which he was massing on the other side of it with a view to 
crushing the Union troops, who had been so unexpectedly 



ioo THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

thrust out from the main line on Cemetery Hill, before they 
could get back to the shelter and defenses of that line. 

From Sherfv's peach orchard, the farthest point reached 
by Sickles, his right wing was extended northward a consider- 
able distance along the Emmitsburg road. His left wing 
under Birnev made a right angle at the peach orchard and 
extended in a southeast wardly direction, following the con- 
formation of the ridges to the Devil's Den at the base of Little 
Round Top. Thus while the left flank was "in air" the right 
was long drawn out and the angle at the peach orchard ex- 
posed the troops to a destructive enfilading fire. 

For a brief period of time the only evidence of the im- 
pending conflict was the bursting of a shell here and there 
as if to get the range of the Union line. Then suddenly while 
we looked and wondered what the outcome might be, the dark 
masses of woodland beyond the Emmitsburg road were lit 
up with flashes of flame from the brazen throats of the guns 
which Longstreet had placed in position. 

The rapid discharges from these guns were quickly fol- 
lowed by the continuous roll of musketry and the duller roll 
of the cannon which were heavily charged with canister, tell- 
ing the story of a desperate conflict at close range. For an 
hour or more the brave men of this veteran corps held their 
ground against overwhelming odds, vainly attempting to hold 
a position which was so far removed from the main line and 
the support which could be sent from it, as to be practically 
untenable. At length Birney's Division was forced back from 
its perilous position toward the Trostle house. To meet this 
emergency Barnes' division of the Fifth Corps was hurried 
out to the assistance of the sorely pressed troops. With their 
co-operation the conflict was renewed, but in a short time 
the whole line in this portion of the field was outflanked and 
swept back to the wheatfield, which from that hour has been 
one of the most notable places in the history of this great 
struggle. 

The roar of battle breaking out now in the direction of 
Little Round Top was ominous of a determined purpose to 
turn the left flank of Sickles' command and occupy that coveted 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 101 

stronghold, so essential to the safety and success of the Union 
arms. How near Longstreet came to the accomplishment of 
this purpose, and how he was thwarted in it by the quick per- 
ception and prompt action of General Warren, was not then 
known to us, but it belongs to the history of that ever-memor- 
able hour of destiny. We did know, however, as these events 
were transpiring, that we could not remain longer in the posi- 
tion of spectators when so much was at stake in the field of 
conflict beyond us. 

In his description of the battle Major Mulholland of the 
Irish Brigade mentions the interesting fact that while he was 
talking with Generals Hancock and Caldwell, who had come 
to that point to view the contest, a staff officer rode up with 
an order to the commander of the Second Corps to send a 
division to report to General Sykes on the left. As he read 
the order, Hancock quietly remarked : "Caldwell, get your 
division ready." 

From the point of view of the man in the ranks the first 
indication of an advance was the appearance of a staff officer 
at brigade headquarters. As he delivered his message the 
familiar word of command rang out, and was passed down 
the lines "fall in." In a moment every man was in his place. 
The next command was delayed for a few moments and dur- 
ing that interval we were witnesses of an unusual scene which 
made a deep impression upon all who witnessed it. The Irish 
Brigade whose green flag had been unfurled on almost every 
battlefield from Bull Run until this hour, stood in column of 
regiments in close order with bared heads while their Chap- 
lain-priest, Father Corby, stood upon a large boulder and 
seemed to be addressing the men. At a given signal every 
man of the command fell on his knees and with head bowed 
low received from him the sacrament of extreme unction. In- 
stinctively every man of our Regiment took off his cap and no 
doubt many a prayer from men of Protestant faith, who could 
conscientiously not bow the knee in a service of that nature, 
went up to God in that impressive and awe-inspiring moment. 

General Hancock and his staff were witnesses of this 
service, and withheld the order to march until it was ended. 



102 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

At the word of command, which followed the priest's Amen, we 
moved out quickly by the left flank in the direction of Little 
Round Top. In his report of the battle General Caldwell says 
he received the order to report to General Sykes between rour 
and five o'clock and this accords with the observation of the 
Adjutant of the Regiment and others who took note of the 
time. 

As we came nearer to the scene of conflict it became evi- 
dent that our closely pressed troops were gradually falling 
back, and our pace was accelerated to a double quick. For 
about three-quarters of a mile we had been partially screened 
from the observation of the enemy by ridges and strips of 
woodland, but as we reached the vicinity of the Trostle house 
we came into the range of some of the enemy's outlooks and 
were vigorously shelled by their batteries. Halting for a 
moment near the edge of the wheatfield, the order was given 
to load, and then by an oblique movement we entered it and 
moved rapidly across its northwest section. Here we were met 
with deadly volleys at close range, and one of the first to fall 
was our brave and highly esteemed brigade commander, Gen- 
eral S. K. Zook. His monument, one of the first erected on 
that blood-stained field, indicates the spot where he fell. This 
historic field seems to have been greatly reduced at the present 
time by the encroachment of trees and undergrowth on its 
borders, but at the time of the battle was quite a large open 
space in the landscape spread before us. For a short time the 
conflict within it and around it raged with unprecedented tur- 
moil and fury. With fearful losses but splendid courage each 
of the four brigades charged across some portion of it, driving 
the Confederates from the stone fences which sheltered them 
and capturing a number of prisoners. Colonel Cross, com- 
manding the First Brigade, was mortally wounded while cheer- 
ing on his men; and, like General Zook, was carried back to 
the rear to die amid the din of the awful conflict. In a note 
written before the battle of Chancellorsville Colonel Cross said : 

Having received nine wounds in the present war and 
three in other wars, I am not afraid of rebel bullets. 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 103 

His last words were as pathetic as ever came from dying 
lips on the battlefield : 

I did hope I would live to see peace, and our country 
restored. I have done my duty. I think the boys will miss 
me. O welcome death. All my effects I give to my mother. 
Say farewell to all. 

Let it not be forgotten that with such patriotic sacrifices 
as these a lasting peace has been purchased and a dismembered 
country restored. 

The part taken by each of the brigades in the wheatfield 
has been definitely given by General Caldwell in his official 
report, from which we quote as follows : 

The position assigned me was on the right of the Fifth 
and the left of the Third Corps and I was ordered to check 
and drive back the enemy who were advancing at that point. 
I ordered Cross to advance in line of battle through the 
wheatfield, his left resting on the woods which skirted the 
field. He had advanced but a short distance when he en- 
countered the enemy and opened upon him a terrific fire, 
driving him steadily to the farther end of it. In the mean- 
time I had put the Second Brigade in on the right of the 
first and they advanced in like manner, driving the enemy 
before them. The Third Brigade I ordered still further to 
the right to connect with the Third Corps, while I held the 
Fourth in reserve. The First, Second and Third Brigades 
advanced with the utmost gallantry, driving the enemy 
before them over difficult and rocky ground, which was 
desperately contested by the slowly retreating foe. The 
First Brigade, which had been the longest engaged, had 
expended all its ammunition, when I ordered Colonel Brooke, 
of the Fourth Brigade, to relieve it. He advanced with his 
usual gallantry and drove the enemy until he gained the 
crest of the hill, which was afterwards gained by my whole 
line. 

This clear statement of facts gives a reason for the 
placing of the Fourth Brigade on the left of the line instead 
of the right, where it properly belonged, in the order in which 
it reached the field. It also proves conclusively that the Third 



104 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Brigade held the right of the division on the crest of the hill, 
which was afterwards gained. With these facts in mind a 
better understanding of the part which the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Regiment took in the advance bevoncl the wheat- 
field may be obtained. 

In the official report of Lieutenant Colonel Fraser, the 
ranking officer after the battle, it is stated that the Third Bri- 
gade was formed by General Zook in order of battle, having the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania on the extreme right, 
the Sixtv-sixth New York in the center, the Fiftv-second New 
York on the left and the Fifty-seventh New York a short 
distance in the rear as a reserve. Although greatly reduced 
in number since the battle of Chancellorsville, our Regiment 
was about double the size of the two regiments on its left, and 
the whole front was probably less in extent than that of a 
complete regiment, such as the One Hundred and Fortieth 
was when it entered the service. 

After the wheatfield had been swept of the enemy no orders 
were given to halt and we dashed forward, eager to hold our 
place in the line. Crossing the stone fence which bounded the 
western side of the field, we entered a rocky woodland in which 
were scores of huge uprising boulders, so thickly set that \\ e 
had great difficulty to preserve our alignment. Forward amid 
the dead and wounded, for many had fallen here, we pushed 
on, over and around the rocks and through a dense pall of 
smoke and stifling heat, until we saw a blaze of light in front, 
revealing the dark forms of a double line of men who were 
actively engaging the enemy. In our course through the 
woods we had veered too far to the left and our line had 
overlapped Major Mulholland's battalion on the right of the 
Irish Brigade. This error was promptly rectified by a right 
flank movement, which cleared our front and carried the right 
of the Regiment out into the open at the edge of the w r oods. 
With ringing cheers we gained this position and immediately 
came into close quarters with the enemy. The "Peach 
Orchard," where so many had fallen during the period which 
Sickles had tried to hold his advanced line, was only a short 
distance from our position, on the right of the division, and, 




Monument erected by the Regimental Association to mark the advanced position of the 
140th P. V. ;it Gettysburg, July 2nd, 1863. Unveiled and dedicated August nth, 1885. 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 105 

when the smoke lifted for a moment, could he seen, but no 
troops of the Third Corps, with whom we were expected to 
join forces, were then in sight. In our front, and but a few 
rods away, there was an almost continuous blaze of light, 
behind which we could dimly discern the forms of the men 
who confronted us. While our persons were fully exposed, 
they were on the slope which fell away from the ridge 
we were occupying. "Load and fire at will," was the order 
given the moment we were halted, and every instinct of self- 
preservation as well as of patriotic impulse nerved the men of 
that blazing line to obey it. As our brave Colonel, with pale, 
set face, passed down the line to the right, his words rang out 
above the din of battle : "Steady men," "Fire low," "Remem- 
ber you are Pennsylvanians." The first volleys from the side 
of the enemy were aimed too high and the balls rattled and 
crashed among the limbs of the trees behind and above us. 
This was not for long, however. With steadier nerves they, 
too, began to "fire low," and awful was the carnage which 
followed. Men reeled and fell on every side, but with daunt- 
less courage those who survived stood their ground until the 
order came to fall back. The three companies on the right of 
the Regiment, C, F and G, being in the open and exposed to 
an infilading fire met with the heaviest losses. 

At the head of the first mentioned company Colonel Rob- 
erts was mortally wounded. A few moments later David 
Acheson, the ranking Captain of the Regiment, a young officer 
of rare ability and winsome personality, was killed almost al 
his side. Out of seventy-two men on the muster roll of his 
company thirty-two were killed or wounded. 

In Company F, which took three officers and fifty-five men 
into action, seven w r ere mortally wounded and seventeen were 
more or less seriously injured. Out of a total of sixty-four 
officers and men which Company G took into action on this 
blood-stained hillcrest, nine, including the Second Lieutenant, 
Alexander Wilson, were killed, and thirteen wounded. Among 
the latter was the First Sergeant, John F. Wilson, who was 
shot in his right arm. His musket fell from his hand, and as 
he turned about he received another minie ball in his left arm ; 



io6 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

and so, with arms hanging helpless on either side, went off 
the field. Close by the writer's side a stalwart young country 
lad, — John McNutt — who was always on hand when duty 
called, was mortally wounded and fell forward at his feet. A 
few paces away two college classmates — Alex Wilson and 
Hugh Wier — were stricken with mortal wounds. The cas- 
ualties among the officers were unusually large. The names 
of those who were killed, including Colonel Roberts, have been 
already mentioned. Those disabled by wounds were Captains 
McCallister, McCullough and Campbell, of Companies I, A 
and H ; Lieutenant Pipes and Purman, of Company A — the 
latter of whom lost a leg — and Lieutenant Vance and Stokes, 
of Companies C and F, each of wdiom lost an arm. The 
Adjutant of the Regiment, William S. Shellenberger, was 
severly wounded, falling for a short time into the hands of 
the enemy: and the Major, with two Lieutenants, Cook and 
Paxton, of Companies K and G, were captured by a flanking 
party of Confederate in or near the wheatfield. 

Three of the color guard, including the bearer, Sergeant 
Robert Riddle, of Company F, were wounded on the hillcrest, 
not far from the present site of the old monument erected by 
the Regiment. Sergeant Riddle was shot through the left lung 
and fell with the flag in his hands. It was taken from his 
prostrate body, he having fallen upon it, by one of the nearest 
of the guards, Corporal Joseph Moody, of Company H, who 
passed it into the hands of another guard, Corporal Jesse T. 
Power, of Company E, while he attempted to place his fallen 
comrade in a more comfortable position. 

By this time the whole line had fallen back and the Con- 
federates, but a short distance away, were calling out to him 
to surrender. Refusing to obey this summons he ran the 
gauntlet of the flankers and escaped without injury. Mean- 
while Corporal Power, seeing that the line was giving way, 
carried the flag back at once through the wheatfield, and 
retained possession of it the rest of the day. 

Major Henry gives the additional information that the 
colors were placed on the left of the One Hundred and Forty- 
eighth Pennsylvania after the crossing of the wheatfield, and 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 107 

■ 

as many of the scattered Regiment as could be gathered in 
the darkness and confusion immediately following were rallied 
around them.* 

In a graphic description of the conflict of this ever 
memorable day, on the occasion of the dedication of the State 
Monument of the Regiment, September 11, 1889, the Ad- 
jutant, Hon. W. S. Shellenberger, said: 

Terrible beyond words to picture the tempestuous rattle 
of the musketry, as it sweeps over our heads in the heavy 
timber and plows through our ranks. A rebel battery gains 
position and pours its infilading fire down our lines. With 
intrepid courage and reckless daring our Colonel rushes in 
front of his Regiment to lead it by the right flank and by 
change of line to meet and check, if possible, the flanking 
party coming against our right, but before he reaches 
position to command he falls to the ground pierced by sev- 
eral bullets. Loving hands carry him back a short distance 
and the fight goes on. Looking down our line to the left we 
see our Division rapidly retiring and our own left quickly 
following. None too soon, indeed, for already the rebel 
infantry is turning our right and passing down our 
rear. * * * 

It was just six o'clock by the watch I carried when we 
crossed the corner of the wheatfield going into action. By 
count of the Regiment which I made that day we numbered 
twenty-five officers and four hundred and ninety enlisted 
men at that moment. Less than two hours later we had lost 
in action, by official records, fourteen officers and two hun- 
dred and twenty-seven enlisted men. Your own Lieutenant- 
Colonel was left the ranking officer of the Brigade. Sad and 
sorrowful was your duty that night rallying the remnant of 
a splendid Regiment.f 

When the flanking party of the Confederates swept 
through the open space on our right, which had been left by 

♦There are some apocryphal stories afloat regarding the saving 
of the flag at Gettysburg, but the above mentioned facts seem to 
cover the whole ground and are well substantiated. 

fFor additional information relating to the choice of location 
for the monument and of disputed points concerning the exact posi- 
tion of the Regiment see page 407. 



io8 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

the withdrawal of Sickles' overspent and overpowered men, 
they were in plain view of the companies nearest to this gap, 
but at first were supposed to be our own men who were falling 
back from the peach orchard or its vicinity. On this sup- 
position orders were given to cease firing. We were soon 
undeceived, however, by a volley of musketry which enfiladed 
our line and revealed the intention of the enemy to envelop 
our flank in such a way as to make escape impossible. Fortu- 
nately the word to let go came before this was accomplished, 
but it was not soon enough to save some, who were the last 
to leave the line, from capture. Those reported as missing 
from the several companies were nearly all among the unknown 
dead or had fallen into the hands of the enemy. There were 
many more who ran the gantlet of the deadly missiles which 
swept the wheatfield and all the open spaces about it; some to 
fall in the attempt and others, heedless of the demand to sur- 
render, to hold on their way until they reached some portion 
of the Union line. Those who were not so hard pressed by 
the exulting foe or had left the firing line more promptly 
came off in squads and detachments and formed the nucleus 
of the remnant which remained around the tattered and battle- 
stained flag on the main line. 

One of the last to leave the crest of the hill was Sergeant 
Burns, of Company A, for the reason that he did not hear the 
order to fall back. His experience in "getting back," which 
tallies very closely with that of others who were in the same 
case, was given by a friend, as follows : 

The Sergeant had heard of the terrors of Andersonville 
and was determined not to be taken prisoner. So, throwing 
his knapsack, but retaining his gun, he started back through 
the tangled wheat. He heard the Confederate shout "Halt, 

you d d Yank," but on he went with bullets whistling 

lively around him. The trampled wheat would trip him and 
down he would fall, but up and on again. At last, however, 
he was exhausted. His breath had failed, and falling he was 
unable to rise. Looking through the ripening wheat a few 
feet in front he saw the Union line of battle. The men — 
presumably of Crawford's division of the Fifth Corps — 
were lying down and concealed by the standing grain. 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 109 

Waiting a moment until his breath returned he arose, 
plunged forward and fell exhausted just behind the battle 
line. 

The First Lieutenant and Orderly Sergeant of the same 
company, James J. Purman and James M. Pipes, had an 
experience in running this gantlet which proved to be much 
more serious in its results. When the company fell back they 
took hold of a seriously wounded comrade and carrying him 
some distance placed him between two boulders, where he was 
partially sheltered from the storm of balls which swept over 
the field, and where a day or two later he was found dead. 
While intent on doing this act of kindness the flanking party 
of the Confederates had gained upon them, and at close range 
was demanding their surrender. Disregarding this demand, 
they attempted to reach the farther side of the field, but were 
both stricken down by minie balls. Lieutenant Purman was 
shot in the left leg above the ankle by a ball which crushed 
both bones and made amputation a necessity a day or two 
later. Sergeant Pipes, who was also shot in the leg, was not 
so seriously wounded. With the aid of his rifle, which he 
used for a support, he attempted to hop off the field, but was 
captured by the enemy's flankers and held by them as a 
prisoner until the Union forces advanced in the evening of 
the next day and carried him back to a field hospital.* 

The official report of the part taken by the One Hundred 
and Fortieth Regiment in the Gettysburg battle, by Lieutenant 
Colonel Fraser, who succeeded to the command on the death 
of Colonel Roberts, gives some additional items of special 
interest, and because of its intrinsic and historic value is here- 
with given in full : 

On the morning of the 2d of July the Regiment under 
the command of Colonel R. P. Roberts arrived on the battle- 
ground, where it remained for several hours in order of 
column by wings, right wing in front, a few paces in rear 

*See page 118 for fuller account of these wheatfield experi- 
ences. 



no THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

of the Second Brigade. About four P, M. the brigade was 
marched rapidly to the left to assist the Third Corps, 
which was sustaining a fierce attack. When it arrived 
nearly opposite the place assigned to it the Brigade was 
formed in line of battle with the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers on the extreme right, and was 
moved rapidly forward to engage the enemy. As soon as 
the order was given this Regiment opened a brisk fire, which 
it kept up with great firmness and coolness, steadily driving 
the enemy before it until we reached the crest of a small 
hill. During the advance to this crest the four left com- 
panies of the Regiment, with regiments to the left, gradually 
made a considerable wheel to the right. Shortly after 
reaching the crest, I observed a great many to the left of 
the brigade moving rapidly to the rear, and the rebels, 
apparently fresh troops, in large numbers and in good order 
marching to outflank us on the right. Anxious to know 
what orders General Zook had to give in this crisis, 1 sent 
twice to get instructions from him, but neither the General 
or any of his staff could be found. I did not know at the 
time, nor until after the fight was over, that General Zook 
had been mortally wounded when leading the brigade into 
action. Inferring from the large number of men who to the 
left of my Regiment were continually rushing to the rear that 
a large portion of our division was actually retreating, I 
judged it necessary for the safety of those who had wheeled 
considerably into the enemy's ground, to maintain my posi- 
tion and keep the enemy at bay as long as possible. I, 
therefore, held my position until I considered it necessary 
to order my men to march in retreat, which they did at first 
in good order, the four right companies halting several 
times and firing to check the pursuit of the enemy. After 
this engagement on the 2d the Regiment assembled with the 
brigade and formed in line of battle on the left center of the 
battleground, and about fifty paces in rear of the Second 
Brigade. 

(Signed) John Fraser, 

Lieutenant-Colonel. 

This portion of the report above given which deals with 
the events of the second day's battle, accords at all points with 
the reports of the operations of the brigade and division. 
Major Favill, of General Zook's Staff, asserts that the Third 
Brigade was diverted from its line of march by an order from 



THE TURNING Oh THE Tin I: AT GliTTYSIWRG III 

Major Tremain, of Sickles Staff, who led it in person to save 
the shattered forces of the Third Corps at a point on the line 
where danger was imminent. It is not easy to reconcile this 
statement with the official reports above quoted, and it is a 
fact that by whomsoever led the brigade did go in on the 
right of the Second Brigade and reached the crest of the hill 
in touch with the rest of the command, as stated by General 
Caldwell, on the right of the division. 

The language of the Division Commander is very definite 
on this point. "The Third Brigade," he says, "I ordered still 
further to the right (of the Second) to connect with the 
Third Corps, while I held the Fourth in reserve." This might 
imply assistance from a staff officer of General Sickles to 
locate Zook's position, but, as a matter of fact, there were no 
forces of the Third Corps then in sight with which to connect. 
In our advance many of them had passed through our lines, 
in an utterly exhausted state, to the rear. 

However this may be, General Caldwell does not speak 
of any diversion from his command. On the contrary, he 
adds, "The First, Second and Third Brigades advanced with 
the utmost gallantry, driving the enemy before them over diffi- 
cult and rocky ground, which was desperately contested by 
the slowly retreating foe." After the advance of Brooke's 
brigade, he says, "The crest of the hill was gained by my 
whole command." This certainly implies that the Division as 
a whole moved together in the line of advance and under its 
own commander. 

With respect to the conduct of his command as a whole 
General Caldwell says: 

The Division on the afternoon of the 2d fought with 
its accustomed gallantry, and performed everything that 
could be expected of either officers or men. The large 
number of killed and wounded attest its desperate valor. 
That it fell back was owing to the breaking of the troops on 
the right, permitting the enemy to get on its flank and rear. 

While driving the enemy triumphantly before them two 
of my Brigade Commanders, General Zook and Colonel 
Cross fell mortally wounded. They were both old and tried 



H2 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

soldiers and the country can illy spare their services. They 
both fell in the front of battle while driving back the invader, 
and lived long enough to know that the enemy had been 
driven back with terrible repulse. 

A grateful country will remember their virtues and hold 
them up to the admiration of posterity. 

Colonel Roberts, of the One Hundred and Fortieth Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers, and Lieutenant-Colonel Merwin, 
Twenty-seventh Connecticut, were instantly killed : both 
gallant officers and brave men. * * * 

The conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser, One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Chapman, Fifty-seventh New York Volunteers, was 
worthy of all praise. 

(Signed) J. C. Caldwell. 

The following- quotations from official and semi-official 
sources give in its true and wider setting the important part 
which Caldwell's Division took in this brief but truly titanic 
conflict : 

But at this moment, says the historian of the Second 
Corps (the moment of Sickles' imminent peril), when all 
seems lost a powerful reinforcement is approaching the field. 
It is the division which Sumner organized in Camp Cali- 
fornia in the winter of 1861, and which Richardson and 
Hancock had led into action, commanded to-day by Cald- 
well. The scene of the conflict is the wheatfield so famous 
in the story of Gettysburg. This and the woods on the south 
and west are now full of the exulting enemy. Through this 
space charges the fiery Cross of the Fifth New Hampshire, 
with his well approved brigade. It is his last battle. He 
indeed has said it, as he exchanged greetings with Hancock 
on the way : but he moves to his death with all the splendid 
enthusiasm he displayed at Fair Oaks, Antietam and Fred- 
ericksburg. On his right Patrick Kelly formed the Irish 
Brigade and these two comrades in so many fights dash 
across the field capturing several hundred prisoners, but are 
received by a withering fire from the wall which lines the 
farther edge, now held by Kershaw's South Carolinians. 

Cross falls, mortally wounded, with hundreds of his men. 
Of the 530 Irishmen who have entered the wheatfield, more 
than one-third are killed or wounded before the brigade is 
brought to a stand. 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 113 

And now from the rear approaches Brooke. Relieving 
the regiments of Cross, which fall back to the road, he flings 
himself upon the enemy with one mighty effort. He will not 
be denied. On through the wheatfield, in spite of all, across 
the runlet choked with the dead, into the woods, up the rocky 
slope, clear to the open space beyond, into the very sight of 
the Emmitsburg road, Brooke pushes in his splendid charge, 
driving Semmes' Georgia brigade before him. 
But impetuous as has been his advance he has not out- 
stripped Zook's brigade, which comes up on his right. Zook's 
no longer, for that intrepid leader has fallen with a mortal 
wound. Roberts, too, of the One Hundred and Fortieth is 
killed. Brooke assumes command of the line thus thrust out 
on the extreme verge, far beyond Birney's original position, 
and there anxiously waits for reinforcements which shall 
make his flanks secure. But none appears; the enemy are 
pressing him actively in front and on both flanks ; his retreat 
is threatened. Brooke sees that he must retire; at the word 
his regiments let go their hold and fall back. Strieker, on 
the left, handles the Second Delaware with great courage 
and address, beating back the enemy, who seek to cut off 
the retreat; while Fraser, with the One Hundred and 
Fortieth, performs a like soldierly office on the right; and 
thus this gallant command falls back to the road, having 
lost one-half its numbers. Walker's Second Corps, pages 
278-281. 

"The remnant of Birney's troops on the left," says J. 
M. Vanderslice, director of the Gettysburg Memorial Asso- 
ciation, "was almost surrounded when Caldwell's First Divi- 
sion of the Second Corps, which Hancock sent to the 
assistance of the Third Corps, arrived and moved into the 
wheatfield which was to be afterwards known as the 'whirl- 
pool' of the battle. This was Hancock's old division, the 
largest in the Army of the Potomac, and one of the best. 
It lost more men in killed and wounded during the war than 
any other division." 

After a description of the advance made by each brigade 
and the ultimate necessity for withdrawal, Mr. Vanderslice 
continues : 

As Birney's and Caldwell's commands, each with a loss 
of 1,200 men, and three out of four brigade commanders in 
Caldwell's division were being forced from the field. Ayre's 



114 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

division of the United States Regulars, of the Fifth Corps, 
moved into action on the right. 

"We went down the hill on a run," says an officer of 
this division, "and it was like descending into hell. The 
enemy were yelling like devils. Our men were falling back. 
It was terrible confusion — smoke, dust, rattle of musketry, 
the roaring of cannons and the bursting of shells." 

"The splendid regular division," as one has put it, 
"charged two thousand strong; it only numbered eleven hun- 
dred when it fought its way back to the hill. It remained 
very appropriately that Pennsylvania's sons should finally 
settle the dispute and crown with victory the tremendous 
battle of the left wing; and when Crawford, hat in hand, 
followed by 'Buck' McCandless and the Pennsylvania Re- 
serves charged, the weary rebels gave way and the Union 
flags were tossed in the ecstasy of triumph from the Round 
Tops to the center." 

General Longstreet declares of the engagement of the 
afternoon of the 2d, that it was the "best three hours fight- 
ing ever done on any battlefield." And again, "To press my 
men to further effort would have been madness. I with- 
drew them to the peach orchard." Says Pollard, the 
Southern historian : "The results of the day on the right 
(our left) were unfortunate enough. Our troops had been 
repulsed at all points." "We salute our late enemies and 
accept their decision.* 

"The fighting in the wheatfield," says Joseph Hoke, 
author of the Great Invasion, "has been called the whirl- 
pool of the battle because of the confusion, the surging 
back and forth, the whirling around and round which pre- 
vailed. It is said that regiments from three corps and eight 
to ten brigades were fighting there promiscuously. The 
ground in this field and in the peach orchard was drenched 
with human gore and covered with dead and wounded. Five 
hundred Confederates were found dead in the wheatfield 
alone. With probable exception of the bloody angle at Spott- 
sylvania, on no other place of equal extent upon this conti- 
. nent has so much human blood been shed. The fighting here, 
and throughout the whole of the engagement of this after- 
noon, was not excelled by any in all the previous history of 
the war for stubborn pertinacity and destructiveness." — 
The Great Invasion, page 328. 

* Quotation from address of James P. Holt, Esq., at dedica- 
tion of Monument of the 118th Pennsylvania, at Gettysburg, Sep- 
tember 12, 1889. 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG 115 

It seems most fitting to close the record of this day's 
struggle, which in reality was the turning of the tide, with a 
brief extract from "Reminiscences of the Civil War," by one 
of the bravest leaders and most chivalrous soldiers of the 
Confederate Army, General John B. Gordon: 

The fiercest struggle is now for the possession of Lit- 
tle Round Top. Standing on its rugged summit like a lone 
sentinel is seen an erect but slender form clad in the uni- 
form of a Union officer. It is Warren, Meade's chief of en- 
gineers. With practiced eye, he sees at a glance that, 
quickly seized, that rock-ribbed hill would prove a Gibralter 
amidst the whirling currents of the battle, resisting its heav- 
iest shocks. Staff and couriers are summoned, who swiftly 
bear his message to the Union leaders. Veterans from 
Hancock and Sykes respond at a "double-quick." Around 
its base, along its sides, and away toward the Union right, 
with the forces of Sickles and Hancock, the gray veterans 
of Longstreet are in herculean wrestle. Wilcox Alabamians 
and Barksdale's Mississippians seize a Union battery and 
rush on. The Union lines under Humphreys break through 
a Confederate gap and sweep around Barksdale's left. 
Wright's Georgians and Perry's Floridians are hurled 
against Humphreys, and break him in turn. Amidst the 
smoke and fury, Sickles, with thigh bone shivered, sick- 
ens and falls from his saddle into the arms of his soldiers. 
Sixty per cent, of Hancock's veterans go down with his 
gallant brigadiers — Willard, Zook, Cross and Brooke. The 
impetuous Confederate leaders, Barksdale and Semmes, fall 
and die, but their places are quickly assumed by the next 
in command. The Union forces of Vincent and Weed, with 
Hazlett's artillery, have reached the summit, but all three 
are killed. The apex of Little Round Top is the point of 
deadliest struggle. The day ends, and thus ends the battle. 

As the last rays of the setting sun fall upon the sum- 
mit they are reflected from the batteries and bayonets of 
the Union soldiers still upon it, with the bleeding Con- 
federates struggling to possess it. The embattled hosts 
sleep on their arms. The stars look down at night upon a 
harrowing scene of pale faces all over the field, and of 
sufferers in the hospitals behind the lines — an army of dead 
and wounded numbering over twenty thousand. — Remi- 
niscences, page 163. 



u6 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Thus ended the active operations on the left wing of the 
Union Army on that ever memorable second of July. We 
had met the enemy at close quarters, had driven them before 
us, and had been, at length, outnumbered, outflanked and 
driven before them. Over this bloody ground, the "whirlpool 
of the battle," where more than 6,000 men had been killed or 
wounded, the Union troops had advanced and receded five 
times, and each time with fearful losses. And as nightfall 
fell at the end of the strife on the left, we were back at the 
line from which General Sickles had gone out so gallantly at 
4 o'clock, but which he ought never to have left.* 

The timely arrival of the rescue divisions of Barnes and 
Caldwell in this crisis hour of the battle; the stubborn resist- 
ance to the impetuous onslaught of the exulting enemy when 
Little Round Top was almost in their grasp; the driving back 
of the whole Confederate line from the Peach Orchard to 
Devil's Den — thus delavins; the Confederate advance until 
reinforcements could be sent to this imperiled mountain 
stronghold — made it possible for those who followed to hurl 
back the enemy, as the night shadows were falling, and pre- 
serve the line, which Meade had proposed to hold, and but for 
Sickles' mistake, would have held throughout the day. 

As the result of this apparently aimless strife, apart from 
the support and co-operation of the troops on the Cemetery 
Ridge line, we, nevertheless, with the co-operation of those 
who in turn were sent to our rescue, saved Little Round Top. 
the key to the Gettysburg line : saving this we saved the day 
and saved the LTnion. 

We now know that the whole issue of the strife, as 
General Gordon has intimated, turned upon the failure of 

^General Warren, in his account of the "Saving of Little Round 
Top," says: "The full force of the enemy was now (4 P. M.) sweep- 
ing the Third Army Corps from its untenable position, and no 
troops nor any reinforcements could maintain it. It was the dread- 
ful misfortune of the day that any reinforcements went to that line ; 
for all alike, Third Corps, Second Corps and Fifth Corps, were 
driven from it with great loss." History 155th Pennsylvania Vol- 
unteers, page 188. 




MONUMENT OF nil' - K>TH REGIMENT. 
H,ii C r< -i beyi nd W heatfield. 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE Al GETTYSBURG 117 

Longstreet to capture that frowning citadel of rock on the 
afternoon of the second day. It was this failure that made 
the disastrous charge of the third day a necessity. It was not 

111 vain, therefore, that so many of our brave hoys gave tO the 
country and the flag, in that valley of decision, the last full 
measure of devotion, dying that the nation might live. 

On the eleventh of September, 18H9, a new and costly 
monument, erected at the expense of the State, which marks 
the farthest advance of the One Hundred and Fortieth 'vegi- 
ment, was unveiled in the presence of a large number of the 
surviving comrades. It bears on its face this official record : 

Present at Gettysburg, July 2d, 588 officers and men. 

Killed and died of wounds, 3 officers and 50 men. 

Wounded, 8 officers and 120 men. 

Captured or missing, 3 officers and 59 men. 

Total of losses, 24i.f 

About an hour after the noise of battle had died away on 
the left, General Kwell made a furious attack at Gulp's Hill, 
on the extreme right of our line, and a little later hurled a 
strong force against the position held by the Klevcnth Corps 
on East Cemetery Hill. From 8 o'clock that night until 
10 these eastward ridges fairly blazed with the constant fire of 
artillery and musketry, and the turmoil of the strife at times 
was appalling. At Gulp's Hill the enemy finally succeeded in 
taking a portion of the line of defensive works which had 
been thrown up by Slocum's corps, but which, owing to the 
urgent need for reinforcements for the defense of Little Round 
Top, had been left without a sufficient force to hold them. 
The attack on East Cemetery Hill was partly successful at 
first, but in the end the Confederates were driven back and 
the line was re-established as before. Thus it turned out, at 
the end of this long day's strife, that the Union line through- 
out its entire length, except at Gulp's Hill, had been firmly 
held intact as originally established by Hancock and Meade. 
The only ground on the left from which the Union Army had 
been driven was the untenable position to which it had been 

f All of the above losses occurred after 6 o'clock P. M. 



ti8 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

committed by the unauthorized advance of General Sickles' 
corps. 

During the first half of the night which followed these 
scenes of strife every effort was made to reach the wounded 
men within the Union lines who were lying on the ground 
and unable to help themselves, and all who could be found 
were at once taken to the field hospital. There were thou- 
sands, however, between the lines, or within the lines of the 
enemv, who were left where they fell, without attention or 
care from any one, to sutler or to die. One oi the most 
pathetic incidents connected with this phase of the "Great 
Conflict" has been preserved for us in the records of Company 
D. This company was near the right of the line on the hill- 
crest, and. in common with other companies in that position, 
met with severe losses in killed and wounded. Among the 
number of those who received wounds which afterwards 
proved to be fatal was a corporal. Baden Bebout by name, who 
was a devout Christian and a faithful soldier. Mis name is 
on the honor roll of his company as one of the men who helped 
to haul off the disabled guns of the Fifth Maine Battery at 
Chancellorsville. As he lay on the ground awake and suf- 
fering - that dark and terrible night Bebout. like Paul and Silas 
in the inner prison at Philippi, lifted up his voice to God in 
prayer. C. D. Sharp, a comrade and intimate friend, who 
was not far away, heard the pleading tones of that midnight 
petition and recognized the voice. He had been shot through 
both thighs and another ball had struck him in the breast. 
When he recovered from the shock he had found it deeply 
imbedded in his pocket Bible. Neither of these desperately 
wounded men were able to arise from the ground, but, locating 
each other by the voice, began slowly and painfully to come 
together. At length they succeeded, and side by side opened 
their hearts to each other. Two comrades not far away, 
Isaac Lacock and Charles Cunningham, recognized their 
voices and after the same manner dragged themselves to their 
sides. Here the four men, who were near enough to toss small 
articles to each other, talked of the nature of their wounds, 
the possibility or otherwise of their recovery, and each one, 



THE TURNING OF THE TIDE AT GETTYSBURG u<) 

in view of his dangerous condition, requested the comrade or 
comrades who might survive to bear the last message to the 
dear ones at home. When the long looked for morning 
arrived they were still between the lines and without any 
prospect of immediate relief. At some time during the day 
these weary sufferers were carried by some Confederate sol- 
diers, to whom they engaged to j>ay two dollars each, to a barn 
on the edge of Willonghby Run. Here the Confederate 
surgeons amputated Cunningham's leg. Isaac Sharp, from 
whose manuscript statement this story is condensed, makes 
mention of the fact that an order had been issued to give no 
more opiates to Union soldiers, and that for this reason prob- 
ably the wounds of the other comrades were not treated. 
However this may be, it is a well established fact that they 
did not receive any surgical treatment until the morning of 
the sixth of July, a period of four nights and three days of 
indescribable suffering and apparently hopeless waiting. In 
this pitiable condition they were found by Surgeons Wishart 
and Sharp after midnight July 6th, and on the morning of the 
same day were taken in ambulances to a house in Gettysburg, 
where they received every care and attention. 

Two of this quartette of sufferers, Bebout and Sharp, 
died a few days later. The remaining two were sent home 
with sadly maimed and crippled bodies, to live a few years 
longer in the community from which they had gone out with 
high courage and in the full bloom of young manhood in 
defense of the imperiled country and its sacred institutions. 
To these men, and many thousands who suffered with them, 
this nation owes a debt of gratitude which it never can repay. 
Through their toils and sacrifices it has obtained under God 
a new birth of freedom and a prosperity unparalleled among 
the nations of the earth. 



i.-o THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CHAPTER IX. 

HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL. 

July 3, 1863. 

This is the costliest land beneath the sun, 
'Tis priceless, purchaseless and not a rood 

But hath its title written clear and signed 
In some slain hero's consecrated blood. 

ON the morning of the third of July, with the first streak 
of dawn, the slumbering hosts on the Gettysburg hills 
were rudely awakened by the clamor of human strife 
breaking forth and "rising and swelling to fury along the 
wooded and rocky slopes of Culp's Hill." It meant the 
renewal of the battle for the possession of the works which 
Slocum's corps had found occupied by the enemy on their 
return to the right the evening before. Long and desperately 
the Confederate General, Johnson, struggled to make good 
his victory of the night before, but step by step he was forced 
back and at length was compelled to withdraw altogether from 
his advanced position. There was an occasional outbreak on 
the skirmish lines for a little while after the noise of the 
contest on Culp's Hill had ceased, but after 10 o'clock there 
ensued a strange and unusual period of silence. On the Union 
side, now that all the lost ground had been recovered, it meant 
the complacent waiting for further developments on the part 
of the enemy. On the Confederate side it meant the massing 
of a number of batteries on the crest of Seminary Hill, 
numbering in all one hundred and thirty-eight guns, with a 
view to preparing the way for a desperate assault upon the 
position held by the Second and Third Divisions of the Second 
Corps. Hence every one of these death-dealing pieces were 
trained upon this portion of the line. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 



121 



On this fateful morning the writer was in the field hospi- 
tal of the Second Corps to which he had found his way the 
night before with a bruised and stiffened limb, caused by the 
stroke of a fragment of shell. It was situated on a little slope, 
a part of which was woodland, on the edge of Rock Creek 
somewhere behind the position held by the Second Division, 
and not very far from General Meade's headquarters. Here 
acres of ground were covered with wounded, dying or dead 
men. At times the stretcher carriers separated the dead from 
the living, but meanwhile others passed away in their place*. 
Those who could care for themselves sat or lounged on the 
ground at the foot of a tree or beside a great rock, but the 
larger number were lying on their backs in long rows without 
pillow or shelter, for as yet the hospital supplies, somewhere 
in the rear, had not arrived. Between the rows of prostrate- 
men there were narrow lanes to permit the attendants to pass. 
At intervals in the open spaces were long rows of tables 
around which faithful surgeons with sleeves rolled up to the 
shoulder had been at work since daybreak in two or three 
reliefs, each one working so long as his strength would hold 
out. In all serious cases chloroform was administered and 
thus much suffering was prevented; but, oh, the horror of 
the carving and the heaps of human legs and arms on the 
ground at the ends of the tables, and the pallid faces and the 
smothered moans of anguish, which could not be repressed 
These and other sights and sounds that may not even be men- 
tioned will remain while life lasts as the saddest reminders 
of those days of turmoil, suffering and fraternal strife. 

At one o'clock the frightful cannonade, which will ever 
be memorable in history, began. The hospital which seemed 
to have been almost in the rear of the point selected by Gen- 
eral Lee for the concentration of his attack, was, for a time 
one of the most exposed sites behind the Union lines. In 
swift succession scores of shrieking shells burst in the air and 
on the ground scattering their deadly missiles in the midst of 
this mass of helpless sufferers, killing some outright and 
wounding others. In this emergency those who had the use 
of their limbs at once laid hold of the poor fellows who were 



iM the o\'i-: nvsnRF.n .ixn fortieth REGIMENT 

helpless pulling and dragging them as best they could, to 
places of comparative safety. For a few moments the confu- 
sion and distress which prevailed was terrible beyond expns 
sion. Those who could not move were crying out for help 
and many who were partially disabled were attempting to 
drag- their maimed or helpless limbs as far as possible from 
the immediate danger /one of the plunging shot and shells. 
In a marvellously short space of time the most exposed places 
were cleared, — for all who could work at this task were 
desperately in earnest — and the new location to which all were 
transferred in one way or other, afforded a safe refuge for 
the rest of the day. 

The horrid din of the cannonade which broke so unex- 
pectedlv upon this part of the battlefield continued without in- 
terruption for about an hour and a half. There were eighty 
or more sruns along the ridge behind the Union line which 
vigorously responded and it seemed at times that all the titanic 
forces of the quaking earth and the rending heavens were 

crashing together in deadly strife. 

One of the most realistic descriptions of this terrific 
cannonade is given by General Walker, the Assistant Adju- 
tant-General of the Second Corps, from which we quote as 
follows : 

At precisely one o'clock two cannon shot in quick suc- 
cession, gave the signal, and instantly the Confederate posi- 
tion was, for three miles, wrapped in flame and smoke. 
Nearly one hundred and forty guns opened at once on the 
Union lines. The air shrieked with flying shot, the burst- 
ing shells sent their deadly fragments down in showers 
upon the rocky ridge and over the plain behind; the earth 
was thrown up in clouds of dust as the monstrous missies 
buried themselves in the gfound or glanced from the sur- 
face to take a new and perhaps more fatal flight ; on every 
hand caissons exploded, struck by iron balls which but a 
half minute before bad lain in limber chests of batteries 
a mile away. All that is hideous in war seemed to have 
gathered itself together to burst in one fell tornado upon 
Cemetrv Ridge. The effects of this unparalled cannonade, 
as seen by the staff galloping along the lines, were, on one 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 123 

side, very great, on the other comparatively slight. The 
plain behind the ridge was almost immediately swept of all 
camp followers and the unordered attendants of an army. 
Headquarters and ammunition wagons went to the rear with 
prodigious zeal ; a body of stragglers and men usually absent 
from their regiments poured down the Baltimore road to 
the rear; even General Meade's headquarters were broken 
up by the intolerable bombardment, and the commander and 
staff mounted their horses in haste and sought safety nearer 
the line of battle. On the contrary, looking to the front, 
one saw only thin lines of infantry crouching behind the 
stone walls or clinging prone to the ground, the musket 
clutched tightly in each soldier's hand as he waited for the 
great charge which he well knew was to follow. 

The main fury of the cannonade fell, of course, upon 
the batteries of the Second Corps, occupying the ground 
which Longstrect's columns were even now forming to as- 
sault; and well did those gallant officers and men stand in 
their place and make answer that day for their cause. Out of 
those five batteries were killed two hundred and fifty horses, 
and men fell by scores at the guns or bringing ammunition 
up through a literal storm of shot and shell. But not a 
cannoneer left his post. There was no flurry and no fuss. 
Monotonous discharges followed the command, "Number 
one, fire! Number two, fire!" as regularly as if the battery 
were saluting an inspection officer. 

The story of Pickett's charge which followed immediately 
after the roar of the Confederate guns had ceased, has been 
so often told that it need not be repeated here. It is said that 
when Meade saw the retreating remnant of the Division, he 
removed his hat and murmured, "Thank God." 

A mile away from Meade was Lee ; and we can picture 
him as he stood there and saw his last assault repelled, 
his studied invasion fail, the flower of his army shot to 
pieces, and knowing that his men on that field, lying and 
standing, represented the careful gleaning of his country, 
he must have seen in the battle smoke above that valley of 
death the final end of the Confederacy.* 

*The Last Day of Gettysburg, by Lt. Hon. Reeve, New York 
Independent, July 7. 1898. 



124 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

About four o'clock in the afternoon General Hancock 
was brought to the hospital in an ambulance. He fell from 
his horse, while directing the movement of a flanking party, 
with a painful wound in the groin, which at first was supposed 
to be mortal. "While lying on the ground, his wound spout- 
ing blood, he raised himself on his elbow and gave the order, 
'Go in, Colonel, and give it to them on the flank." Not until 
the issue was certainly decided did he allow the stretcher 
carriers to take him to the rear. 

"History," says Ex-Governor Daniel H. Hastings, "will 
never record a grander sight than he presented, when with 
Mitchell, and Bingham and other members of his staff he rode, 
with corps flag flying, from the right out upon the field in 
front of his men and along down the line of battle, whilst the 
missiles of the enemy were filling the air about him, bowing 
to his expectant men as politely and gallantly as upon review 
day." Never was Hancock more superb in battle than on that 
memorable day when the men of his command gathered up 
thirty-three Confederate battle flags in their front and cap- 
tured more than four thousand prisoners. 

On him, next to General Meade, rested the responsibility 
of checking the advance of the main forces of the enemy on 
the second and third days of the conflict and nobly did he 
execute the trust which had been committed to his hands. 

When he was taken from the ambulance many of the 
wounded men crowded about him in anxious solicitude, for 
the word had gone out that he was desperately, if not mortally 
wounded. Despite his intense suffering he roused himself 
to speak to them, not of his wound, but of the result of the 
battle. "Boys," he said in a voice that was still strong and 
resonant, — "We have won a great victory." "It is the 
victory of the war." With hearty cheers the men greeted 
this response and then left him in the hands of the surgeons. 

With respect to the part taken by the Regiment in this 
day's conflict, Colonel Fraser, says in his official report : 

On the morning of July 3d the Regiment, pursuant to 
orders, constructed breastworks immediately in front of the 




(' \r i . 1 ) win \. M i SON. 

Boulder on Gettysburg Battlefield wheri I tpl David Acheson was buried. 
The Wheatfield "Whirlpool of the Battle" where more than 6,000 were killol or wounded. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 125 

line. The severe and long-continued artillery fire which 
the Confederates opened upon us, prior to their fruitless 
attack upon our position in the afternoon of this day, did 
no harm to anyone in the Regiment. 

Here, in the evening of the same day, in its place among 
the shattered regiments of the Third Brigade, the writer found 
the One Hundred and Fortieth — a battalion now, — number- 
ing about two hundred effective men. In their midst was the 
tattered, battle-stained flag which more than five hundred had 
followed on the previous day. Behind the slight barrier 
which the men had erected they were privileged to see the 
charge of Longstreet's troops, who did not so much as break 
through their picket line. The storm of shot and shell which 
had been so fatal farther to the right swept by them, or 
passed over their heads. A few paces to the rear of the line 
were a number of dead horses which had been killed beside 
the batteries to which they had been attached. 

In the history of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Regi- 
ment of Pennsylvania Volunteers mention is made of an at- 
tempt made by Lieutenant George McLaughlin and A. E. Lyon 
of that command to reach the scene of the severe fighting of 
the day before, beyond the wheatfield. 

This was made possible by the temporary withdrawal 
of the Confederate pickets after the repulse of the charging 
column. 

"These officers," says the writer, "had heard of the 
death in battle of Sergeant (Captain) David K. Acheson, 
of the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania, who had 
been their classmate in Washington College. The officers 
named found the position of the Regiment, and evidences 
of the terrible fighting under Sickles in the Peach Orchard, 
and of the losses sustained by the sight of the number of 
unburied bodies of the slain. They were unable, however, 
to find the body of their missing classmate, their search 
having been interrupted by the opening of the firing by the 
enemy, to whose lines they had unwittingly approached too 
closely. On a huge boulder in the Peach Orchard ( ?) is 
carved and visible to-day the name 'David R. Acheson, 140th 



126 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Penna.,' to mark the identical spot where this brave soldier 
fell."* 

From the records of the Confederate army we know that 
General Lee prepared for a retreat by sending- his long- trains 
of wagons, many of which were filled with wounded men, in 
advance on the evening of the third of July. At the same time 
nothing would have pleased him better than to have met a 
counter attack that evening in his strong and well-chosen 
position. The line on Seminary Hill, which he had held 
since the first day's battle was still unbroken and there was 
enough artillery in position upon it to have held at bay the 
strongest force which could have been sent against it. Despite 
all that has been said to the contrary a counter charge at this 
time in the condition of exhaustion consequent upon the three 
days and nights of hardship and peril to which the Union 
army had been exposed, would almost certainly have been 
foredoomed to failure. 

There are many well-informed persons who have the 
impression that the third day's battle was the greatest and 
most sanguinary of the series of bloody conflicts on the Gettys- 
burg field. But, as a matter of fact, it was not a general en- 
gagement at all. It was a disastrous day for Picket's com- 
mand, numbering with his supporters about 15,000 men, and 
yet the greater part of the forces of General Lee, and also of 
our own army were only spectators of this desperate assault 
and its repulse. On the Union side the Second and Third 
Divisions of the Second Corps with the troops adjacent who 
were rushed to their assistance, were the only active partici- 
pants at the real point of attack. This conflict notwithstand- 
ing the limitations mentioned was the turning point of the 
three days' battle and in a sense, of the war for the Union 
also. Taken in connection with all that precedes it, the verdict 

* The reference to the Peach Orchard seems to have been 
owing to a confusion of locations, but the kindly impulse which 
prompted this quest in the face of imminent danger will be appre- 
ciated by all the comrades and their friends of the One Hundred 
and Fortieth Regiment. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 127 

of history will be in the future, as it has been in the past — 
that the "High Water Mark" of the great rebellion was 
reached at the bloody angle by the well known clump of trees 
on Cemetery Hill, the third day of July, 1863. 

During the night following a furious storm of wind and 
rain broke over the heads of the thousands of prostrate men 
who were resting on the battle line. As one has put it "the 
downpour was in proportion to the violence of the cannonade'* 
of the afternoon preceding. Everyone was drenched to the 
skin in a moment. Floods of water swept down the slopes of 
the hills and in some places almost submerged the weary 
sleepers who could scarcely be roused to the danger of their 
situation. The field hospital, which had been so directly in 
range of the enemy's guns in the afternoon was now threat- 
ened with a new peril. In the lower levels of the valley the 
ground was quickly flooded and it required prompt action to 
save some of the helpless patients from drowning. Among 
those who were rescued from this danger were a number of 
seriously wounded Confederates. The men at the front with 
few exceptions had no blankets or wraps and slept behind their 
breastworks in the fatigue suits which they had worn in the 
heat of the day. So soundly did the writer sleep through that 
tempestuous night, that he was not aware, until he awaked 
at daylight that he was lying in a pool of muddy, bloody water 
which had backed up from the slope of rifle pit. The water- 
mark on his clothing, which registered the depth of this sub- 
mergence, could never thereafter be effaced by rubbing or 
washing. 

The Fourth of July at Gettysburg was a day of lower- 
ing skies and frequent showers, and yet despite its gloomy 
enshrouding it will be regarded as the most memorable anni- 
versary of Independence Day since the signing of the Declara- 
tion, because of two historic events. One was the retreat of 
the army which fought for the disintegration of the Union; 
the other was the surrender of the City of Vicksburg to the 
Union forces under General Grant. 

The movement in retreat from the hills of Gettysburg 
began during the day. In the dark and stormy night which 



128 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

followed the whole army was withdrawn and by daybreak 
was in full retreat. Their unburied dead were left on the field 
and thousands of their wounded were left in our hands. 

"On the morning of the 4th," says General Morgan, 
chief of the corps staff, "the field of battle presented a curi- 
ous sight. Parties were gathering up the arms abandoned 
by the enemy and sticking the bayonets in the ground, so 
that there were acres of muskets standing as thick as trees 
in a nursery." 

The cavalry and one or two of the army corps were 
started in pursuit of Lee's army on the morning - of the fifth. 
They captured a number of prisoners and destroyed some be- 
lated wagon trains, but the main body of the enemy made 
good their escape through Fairfield Gap and other adjacent 
openings in the solid mountain wall which had been their 
screen, and defence from direct attack, on the upward journey 
from Virginia. 

In order to reach Williamsport, the objective point of the 
Confederate army, it was necessary for General Meade to 
make long detours by way of the lower gaps and hence several 
days elapsed before the two armies again confronted each 
other. 

One of this retreating host has given us a glimpse of 
some of the dismal experiences which attended the beginning 
of this retrograde march toward the Potomac. 

The great battle had been fought and lost; the tide of 
Southern invasion, which had poured through the moun- 
tain passes and surged northward to the Susquehanna, had 
touched its high-water mark, and now freighted with debris, 
which the war billows had gathered in their shock against 
Cemetery Ridge, the ebbing current set steadily toward the 
Potomac. An interminable throng of wagons, worn-out 
horses and wounded men choked the highways and, ever 
passing, still came and came. All arms of the service were 
there commingled without distinction ; hundreds of Stuart's 
troops, dismounted or rendered temporarily unserviceable 
for active duty with their commands, and driving or lead- 
ing their broken-down charges, were marching afoot as 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 129 

train-guards; but by far the greater part of this doleful 
procession bore slung arms, or bandaged heads, or hobbled 
painfully as they went while the transportation was taxed to 
its utmost capacity for the conveyance of the more severely 
wounded. Through the dismal rain and the muddy paste 
of the roads which flowed like thin batter, the teams with 
dripping girths plodded and splashed their weary way, send- 
ing showers of the hideous mixture right and left over the 
pedestrians toiling single file along the narrow, slippery 
footpath, or by twos and threes in the fields beyond. It 
was a vast moving panorama of misery; the stolid farmer- 
folk by the roadside almost forgot their ruined harvests 
in the contemplation of so much suffering, and women who 
had come to their doorways to see the discomfited "rebels" 
go by — remembering, possibly, husbands, sons and brothers 
back yonder, and as yet unheard from — turned away from 
the spectacle with tears in their honest eyes.* 

Gettysburg was the only battle of the war which was 
fought north of the Mason and Dixon line and the losses of 
the contesting armies were greater than in any other single 
battle which was ever fought upon American soil. 

"The revised returns," says one of the best authorities, 
"show for the Army of the Potomac: killed and wounded, 
17,555; rnissing 5,435, total 22,990; and for the Confederate 
Army: killed and wounded, 15,298; missing, 5,850, total, 
20,448.1 But the returns for the Confederate army are based 
upon reports which are confessedly imperfect and conflicting, 
some commands are not reported, and in others the regimental 
show larger losses than do the brigade returns from which the 
foregoing numbers are compiled." General Bingham, in his 
address at the unveiling of the monument to General Hancock 
at Gettysburg, gives 27,525:}: as the sum of the Confederate 
losses, and this is probably nearer the correct number than the 

* A Boy in Gray, Scribner's Monthly, Vol. xxii, pages 647 
and 648. 

■j- General H. J. Hunt, Third Day at Gettysburg, The Century, 
Vol. xi, page 463. 

I The estimate of 27,525 includes 700 of wounded and prisoners 
whose names were omitted from list but appear in the record at 
Washington. 



ijo THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

total above quoted.*** This would make the total of losses ou 
both sides nearly, if not altogether so.ooo. On both sides a 
very large number of those reported as missing- were either 
killed or captured and many of the wounded as well as of the 
captured, died after the official returns of the battle had been 
made out. 

The data for the comparative strength of the two armies 
on the field of battle on the second and third days is also very 
unsatisfactory. The losses of the Union army, especially in 
prisoners, on the first day were much larger than those in 
General Lee's army and to this extent should be counted out. 
It should be noted also in making even an approximate esti- 
mate that while all but Picket's Division were in the engage- 
ment of the second day, that Sedgwick's corps, then the larg- 
est in the army did not reach the field until four o'clock in the 
afternoon, and but two of its eight brigades were in a posi- 
tion to repel the persistent attacks of the enemy. Hence the 
total of casualties in this splendid body of veteran troops, 
whose courage and endurance was tested to the utmost in their 
long march, was only 242. "At the 'points of contact,' " as 
General Hunt has expressed it, "the Confederates were almost 
always the stronger. On July 1st, 18,000 Federal combatants 
contested against at least 25,000 Confederates, and got the 
worst of it. On July 2d, Longstreet's 15,000 overcome 
Sickles' 10.000 and had to halt when a larger force was op- 
posed to them. Williams' Twelfth Corps retook its works 
from a larger body of Ewell's troops, as at the contested point 
they were opposed by an inferior number; ami then held them, 
for Johnson's superior force was as much hampered here by 
the nature of the ground as was Meade's on the left, the even- 
ing before." 

"The Second Corps," says Walker, "had taken into the 
fight fewer than 13,000 men. It had lost 4,350, of whom 
349 were commissioned officers. Of the total loss only 
368 were among the missing. The corps had captured, on 
the second and third days, 4,500 prisoners. Gibbons' divi- 
sion had lost 1,634; Caldwell's, 1,269; Hay's. 1,291; the 




PENNSYLVANIA STATE MONUMENT. 

TABLET 140TH REGIMENT IN POSITION. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 131 

artillery brigade, 149; the headquarters' cavalry squadron, 
4; the corps' staff, 3. 

In this battle on her own soil the State of Pennsylvania 
had a force of sixty-eight regiments of infantry, eight of 
cavalry and five notable batteries of artillery, making a total 
of 26,628 men. The general casualties in this little army of 
her defenders was 5,907. 

"The people of each State," says John M. Vanderslice, 
"can be justly proud of its troops who fought at Gettys- 
burg, and may well render unto them tributes of admira- 
tion and homage. And the people of our whole country can 
rejoice that there was nothing done by any to tarnish their 
record as soldiers. The two great armies of America, 
which, for those three memorable days, in the heat and 
glare of the July sun of 1863, met in determined, fierce 
and deadly combat upon the field of Gettysburg, by their 
fidelity, their fortitude and valor, carved the highest niche 
in the temple of martial fame and glory for the American 
soldier. 

" 'All time will be the millennium of their glory.' One 
was right and the other wrong. But, in the knowledge of 
the subsequent development, progress, peace and prosperity 
of our united, common country, victor and vanquished now 
alike, believe that in the Providence of God it was right 
and well that the issue was determined as it was."f 

On the 27th of September, 19 10, one of the most costly 
and imposing structures on the Gettysburg field was dedicated 
by Governor Stuart, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Penn- 
sylvania, to the memory of the soldiers who participated in 
the battle. A great concourse of people, including several 
thousand veterans, the survivors of the Pennsylvania organ- 
izations which took part in the engagement, was present to 
witness the ceremonies and listen to the addresses on this 
memorable occasion. By an act of the Legislature, free trans- 
portation was furnished to all of the surviving participants 

* The Third Day of Gettysburg, The Century, Vol. xi, page 463. 
f Gettysburg Then and Now, page 328. 



132 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

connected with these organizations from every portion of the 
State. 

Four acres surrounding this memorial structure have been 
set aside and designated as Pennsylvania Park to give to it a 
worthy and befitting setting. 

The space around the base of the memorial arch, or 
monument proper, is filled with inscriptions and on the inside 
of the arch are recorded the names, beginning with General 
Meade, of thirty-four general officers of Pennsylvania who 
were intrusted with important commands during the engage- 
ment. The most unique feature of the monument, however, 
is the record on eighty-six bronze tablets of each command 
organized by the State, and the names of every soldier in their 
respective commands; thus forever perpetuating the record of 
the sons of Pennsylvania who participated in the battle. 

The dedication legend, cut deeply into the granite at the 
base of this memorial structure reads thus : 

"The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in honor of her 
sons who on this field fought for the preservation of the 
Union, July I, 2, 3, 1863." 

On another granite slab is a record of the commands 
present. It reads : 

Pennsylvania at Gettysburg: 69 regiments infantry, 9 
regiments cavalry, 7 batteries artillery. Total present, 34,- 
530. Killed and mortally wounded, 1,182; wounded, 3,177; 
missing, 860; total, 5,219. 

At the request of the chairman of the Memorial Com- 
mission a carefully revised list of the officers and men of the 
several companies who were present for duty at Gettysburg, 
was prepared by committees representing the companies. 
These lists after rigid inspection by the Commission were 
accepted and the names appearing upon them were then trans- 
ferred to the bronze tablet which appears in its place at the 
base of the monument. The record thus prepared and safe- 
guarded is of more than ordinary historic value, and is here- 
with appended without change or abbreviation. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 133 

ROSTER. 

One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, July 1, 2, 3, 1863. 

FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS. 
Colonel, *Richard P. Roberts. 
Lieutenant-colonel, John Fraser. 
Major, ^Thomas B. Rodgers. 
Surgeon, J. Wilson Wishart. 
Assistant Surgeon, William W. Sharp. 
Adjutant, fWilliam S. Shallenberger. 
Regimental Quartermaster, Saml. B. Bentley. 
Assistant Surgeon, Benjamin F. Hill. 

NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. 
Sergeant Major, JHenry J. Boatman. 
Quartermaster, *R. G. S. Smith. 
Commissary Sergeant, Thomas L. Noble. 
Hospital Steward, Joseph W. Lawrence. 
Killed, 2; wounded, 1; captured, 2. 



COMPANY A. 

Captain, **fJohn F. McCullough. 
First Lieutenant, f James J. Purman. 

Sergeants, fjames M. Pipes, John A. Burns, *William A. 
Brown, -j-Henry Zimmers. 

Corporals, Mark G. Spragg, *Leroy S. Greenlee, Kramer Gabler, 
Cornelius J. Burke. 

Fifer, Morgan Dunn. 
Drummer, James Woods. 

PRIVATES. 
**John Acklin John M. Lancaster 

Oliver Armstrong **Hiram McCullough 
Harrison Anderson Lindsey McCullough 

Joseph Bane William Ogden 

Oliver Burson Joseph Pettit 

John Bennett James B. Rinehart 

John F. Coen John A. Rush 



♦Killed at Gettysburg, f Wounded at Gettysburg. J Captured 
at Gettysburg. 



134 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



John Cox, Jr. 
George N. Dornan 
**Bcnjamin Dunstan 
Jfjohn VV. Eddy 
Michael Eddy 
John Fisher 
David Frays 

•(■George Freeland 
♦♦-{-John Gray 

•{•George Gray 
Simon Geary 
Stephen C. Harris 
David R. Hoge 
Joseph Herrington 
John C. Jones 
Rezin S. Kent 

♦Benjamin F. Loaf. 

■{■John Long 

f John Meighen 



Edward Steel 
Nicholas Steel 
Simon P. Scott 

■{■Henry Scott 
♦♦John M. Spragg 

fjesse Sprowls 
Jesse Stewart 
Caleb Strosnider 
Keener L. Strosnider 
Spencer Stephens 
♦♦fNorval L. Troy 

fLevi Taylor 
Abner W. Taylor 
Harrison Woolum 

-{■Daniel B. Wychoff 
John R. H. Wilson 
George W. Wilson 

^Benjamin F. Wallace 
Oregon Walters 



Killed and died of wounds, 3; wounded, 15; captured or mis- 
sing, 2, one of whom, John W. Eddy, died in prison at Richmond, 
January 27, 1864. Bates' history says Benjamin F. Loar died in 
Philadelphia. August I, 1863, of wounds received at Getysburg. 



COMPANY B. 

Captain, Jason T. Giebner. 

First Lieutenant, George Tanner. 

Segeants, flames C. Nolan, Ranels C. Craig, John Satterfield, 
John Johnson, John Fox. 

Corporals, ♦♦fGeorge D. Moore, ♦♦Robert B. Porter. JCharles 
W. Giebner, Price Dilley, George Perrine, ♦Thomas G. Eagles, 
f James L. Griffin. 

Musician. J Thomas J. Cozad. 

PRIVATES. 



Wilson Bean 
William Blair 

J Aaron Bolinger 
Joseph Breackle 
William Brannou 
Nathaniel Breast 

♦John Buckley 



Daniel B. Mayer 
Alexander Patten 
William Perrine 
James B. Porter 
Benjamin A. Posten 
Samuel B. Rodgers 
Tames M. Robb 



♦ Killed at Gettysburg, f Wounded at Gettysburg. J Captured 
or missing at Gettysburg. ♦♦ Killed in subsequent battle. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 



1 35 



George M. Bennett 
Wilson Calvert 
■J- Adam C. Dilley 
fLewis F. Egbert 
John W. Gardner 
Adam George 
William M. Griggs 
^Martin Henderson 
^Samuel Holmes 
John Jones 
♦Allen Kirby 
Michael I). Maghan or Mc 
Gehan 
^George Mears 
JCyrus Moreland 
♦♦James McCoy 

^Samuel McKindley 
♦♦Henry C. Montgomery 
Killed, 2 ; wounded, 1 1 ; 
and Cozad, Holmes, Patton, 
prison. 



George Rose 

John Roberts 

John H. Seiple 
J William Shaw 
(Hugh Shaw 

James J. Smith 
fGilmer Smith 

George W. Smail 

Charles Smoyer 
fWilliam P. Sutherland 

David B. Sinclair 

Madison Thompson 
fWilliam H. Turner 

Charles Vath 

Samuel J. Weir 

Thomas M. White 
♦♦George Young 



captured or missing, 9. William Shaw 
Moreland subsequently captured, died in 



COMPANY C. 



Captain, *David Acheson. 

First Lieutenant, f Isaac Vance. 

First Sergeant, ♦James D. Campbell. 

Sergeants, J. Milton Ray, ♦♦William J. Cunningham, fjames 
McFarland. 

Corporals, James Blake, Eli H. Linton, fjames P. Sayer, •Wil- 
liam Horton, Richard Jones, f Samuel Fergus. 

PRIVATES. 

I William Armstrong John Moore 

John Billick fTillinghast Mourie 

fjohn Blair ♦Anthony Mull 
**Ephraim Brown George Norris 

James B. Clemens *Alvin Newman 

flsaac Cleaver, Jr. ♦Albertus Patterson 

David W. Cleaver Andrew Plants 

*Ellis J. Cole William H. Pollock 

Philip A. Cooper William Pollock 

Samuel Curry Esau Powell 



♦Killed at Gettysburg. fWounded at Gettysburg. ^Captured or 
missing at Gettysburg. ♦♦Killed in subsequent battle. 



ijo THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



tjohn A. Dickey 
**I. N. Dowling 

Alexander S. Duncan 
fNehemiah Gilbert 

Aaron Gunn 

Mason Hart 

Alex. F. Hartford 
**Lewis Henry 
■{•Clark Irey 
fjohn J. Jordan 
♦Daniel L. Keeney 
♦James S. Kelley 
♦♦Thomas W. Long 
♦Thomas B. Lucas 
^Robert H. Lindsay 
fFrank B. McNear 

David McCoy, Jr. 
fThomas McCune 

Hugh B. McNeil 
♦Richard Miller 

Samuel Mills 



♦♦Jackson Prall 
■{■Charles Quail 

William J. Radclift 

Charles Rentz 

Samuel Rettick 

Austin M. Richards 
♦♦Gales Rose 

Silas A. Sanders 
fPresley H. Shipley 

John Smalley 
♦*William S. Stockwell 
IJames S. Stockwell 

John Stockwell 

Jonathan Tucker, Jr. 
*Simeon VanKirk 

William VanKirk 
fColin Waltz 
♦♦James Wise 
jSamuel Wise 
fjohn D. Wishart 
tTefferson Yonker 



Lindsay and Wishart not on muster roll. 
Killed, 12; wounded, 20; captured or missing, 2. 
Lindsay, who died in Richmond, December, 1863. 



Armstrong and 



COMPANY D. 

Captain, Charles L. Linton. 

Sergeants, James B. Vandyke, Henry C. Swart, Fulton Bell, 
♦Cephas D. Sharp. 

Corporals, JJohn A. Black, jCalvin Ramsey, Leroy W. Day, 
♦Beden Bebout, ♦James A. Bebout, fjames M. Hughes. 

Musicians, Alpheus Cunningham, Hamilton Parker. 

PRIVATES. 



J Enoch Baker 

Zachariah Baker 
fSample S. Bell 
♦♦fAbner L. Birch 
♦♦James Birch 
f Robert Birch 
Miller Blatchley 



flsaac Lacock 
♦♦John W. Lewis 
Cyrus Lindley 
Jacob McAfee 
John B. McDonald 
Joseph Meeks 
James Miles 



♦Killed at Gettysburg. fWounded at Gettysburg. ^Captured or 
missing at Gettysburg. ♦♦Killed in subsequent battle. Curry died in 
Andersonville. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 137 

**John L. Brannon **James M. Miller 

Charles II. Caine fGeorge S. Moore 

fjohn W. Cooper **Judson Peden 

fSilas Crispin **Philo Paul 

fCharles Cunningham **Peter Phillips 

*Lewis Dilley George Redd 

**fThomas Doty. William Rutan 

fWilson Doty *Simon Sanders 

Abner Enox **Emmet Smalley 

**Samuel Evans **Amos Swart 

JNathan B. Evans -j-Andrew J. Swart 

Jacob Frazee Harvey Swart 

Enoch French Joseph Swihart 

Thomas Glennon **Wm. H. Teegarden 

Charles Guttey or Guttery George W. Teegarden 

John L. Hathaway Andrew J. VanKirk 

James Hathaway yWilliam Williams 

Jonathan W. Hughes JHenry Watson 

James A. Jackson fjacob Yoders 
fjohn Kelley 

Killed and died of wounds, 5; wounded, 15; captured or miss- 
ing, 4- 



COMPANY E. 

First Lieutenant, Irvin F. Sansom. 

Sergeants, Samuel Potter, **B. F. O'Bryson or O'Bryon, Albert 
G. Beeson, John Barkley. 

Corporals, Jesse T. Powers, Abraham Moore, JSamuel E. Pritch- 
ard, Simon Inks, **Robert Herron. 

Musician, Charles King. 

PRIVATES. 

fLevi Keenan 

fjackson Ballsinger George B. Kistler 

fHarvey Ballsinger William Lawery 

Benjamin Behanna Christopher Lickel 

**Franklin Barringer JJames Lytle 

fSamuel W. Cady George McMillin 

fSamuel Cashdollar William P. McMasters 

James Caskey Hugh Patterson 



*Killed at Gettysburg. fWounded at Gettysburg. ^Captured or 
missing at Gettysburg. **Killed in subsequent battle. 

Joseph Meeks, in Andersonville, from October 14, 1863, to May, 
1865. Died at Annapolis on release, May 13, 1865. 



138 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



James Chubbeck 

wiiiiam Chester 

Isaiah Collins 
**Francis M. Daniels 

H. C. Diffenderfer 
*Francis M. Hansel 

Plummer F. Hall 

Daniel Handlin 

John S. Hindman 
**William Hirst 
**Jeremiah Huttenhouer 

Benjamin Ingles 

John Johnston 
•{•Andrew Johnston 

Thomas Kelly 
Killed, I ; wounded, 6. 



William Pile 

George W. Pritchard 

Alden Rose 

Sparks C. Roberts 
**Robert Russell 

Robert Rudge 

William H. Sickles 

Jesse Stricklin 

William Turner 

Robert Wall 

William F. White 
**Solomon Williams 

Joseph Wiltsee 
**Joseph J. Woodward 



COMPANY F. 

Captain, Thomas Henry. 
First Lieutenant, fjohn D. Stokes. 
Second Lieutenant, **Andrew M. Purdy. 
First Sergeant, *John E. Harsha. 

Sergeants, Joseph R. Harrah, fRobert Riddle, Carmen Nelson. 
Corporals, f Alonzo B. McKenzie, Joseph W. Appleton, ^Joseph 
R. Dunlap, f John B. Clark, fSeth Strock, Andrew G. White 
Musicians, Taylor M. Stokes, Thomas M. Anderson. 
Wagoner, William Pyle. 

PRIVATES. 



**John Anderson 

(on detached duty) 
Thomas O. Anshutz 

(detached, clerk at bri- 
gade headquarters) 
Jacob A. Baker 

(detached, in ambulance 
corps) 
*John S. Bell 
^George Bell 
{Benjamin A. Bonewell 
•{•William Bruce 



James T. Hays 
Seth W. Irwin 
**Francis N. Johnston 
Samuel A. Johnston 
Hugh M. Kerr 
Adam H. Kerr 

(detached, in ambulance 

corps) 
James A. Lockhart 
James R. Lockhart 
Martin W. May 

(detached, teamster) 



♦Killed at Gettysburg. fWounded at Gettysburg. **Killed in 
subsequent battle. ^Captured in subsequent battle and died in prison. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 



139 



William H. Bruce 

(detached in Thompson's 
battery) 
Benjamin Buckley 

(detached, in regimental 
hospital) 
Thomas Clark 
Robert H. Cooper 

(detached, in Thompson's 
battery) 
William J. Cooper 

(detached, in Thompson's 
battery) 
•{•Jonathan I. Davis 
♦William H. Dinsmore 
Samuel M. Dinsmore 
fWilliam Doak 
**John B. Douds 
John Douglass 

(detached, in regimental 
hospital) 
John S. Ewing 
Henry Edwards 

(detached, in bakery) 
Joseph Graham 
*Alvin L. Greenlee 
fRobert N. Gillen 



**+ 



John E. Moore 

(detached, clerk) 
Madison Moore 
George W. Minesinger 
Harrison Miller 
Alfred M. McCaskey 
{•John ivkManamy 
$f John McCullough 
Andrew McCullough 
George M. Nevin 
Andrew Robinson 
Madison Reisinger 
Henry Stevens 
*John P. Small 
fThomas Small 
Enoch Strain 

(in battle, but deserted July 
nth, 1863) 
|Joseph O. Schley 
John H. Short 
William Swearingen 
*Lewis Swearingen 
fRuel W. Strock 
|f Alvin M. Taylor 
Lewis J. Wagner 
♦♦Alexander White 
Michael B. Wilson 



Total in company, 88 ; total on roster above, j$ ; present in line 
of battle with company, three officers and 55 men ; on detached duty, 
13 men; musicians, two; absent sick, 15; killed July 2, 1863, three 
men; wounded, officers, 1; men, 16; captured, five; subsequently died 
of wounds, three men, W. H. Dinsmore, Alvin L Greenlee and J. P. 
Small; effectives July 5, 33. 



COMPANY G. 

Captain, fHenry H. Bingham, detached on staff. 

First Lieutenant, |Wilson N. Paxton. 

Second Lieutenant, ♦Alexander M. Wilson. 

First Sergeant, ♦♦f John F. Wilson. 

Sergeants, *Benjamin M. Black, William T. Pollock. 

Corporals, James M. Patton, David L. Taggart, fEbenezer H. 



♦Killed at Gettysburg. fWounded at Gettysburg. ^Captured at 
Gettysburg. ♦♦Killed in subsequent battle. 



i 4 o THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



Martin, fDunning Hart, ^Joseph L. Moore, James G. Sloan, **f Bank- 
head B. Barr. 

Musician, Josiah H. Carroll. 

Wagoner, John M. Watson. 

PRIVATES. 



James Allison 
♦♦William Armstrong 
♦Simon Arnold 

John Arnold 
♦John Barr 
♦♦David W. Berry 

James L. Berry 
♦David W. Boyd 

Addison A. Coleman 

James H. Crawford 

James M. Daggs 
^George Davis 

John C. Davis 

Ebenezer G. Emery 
♦*Alexander Gaston 

John L. Gow 
♦♦Levi Griffith 

James W. Griffith 
■{•William S. Greer 

David Havlin 
fWilliam A. Helt 

Joseph Hemphill 
•{•James Hinneger 
flames W. Hodgson 
♦♦Frank lams 
J Robert S. Jackson 



Joseph B. Johnson 

Cornelius D. B. Kirk 

James P. Kerr 
♦Joseph Lawson 

William H. Lemon 
♦James Lynn 

George W. McGibbony 
|James S. McGlumphey 

Thomas M. McNary 
♦John McNutt 
jGeorge R. Murray 

John R. Paxton 
-[Wayne J. Phillips 

James W. Pollock 
JJames S. Rankin 

John M. Speer 

John M. Stewart 
y Robert L. Speer 
-j-Robert L. Stewart 

David H. Sumney 

Joshua Weaver 
^Thomas Weaver 
♦Hugh Weir 

Joseph Wilson 

David White 

James Young 



Thomas Weaver died in Richmond, Va., November 2, 1863. 

William H. Lemon, wounded and captured in Wilderness, died 
in Andersonville, August, 1864. 

On roster above 67 names — at Gettysburg 9 killed, 13 wounded, 
6 captured. Total, 28. Effectives July 5, 39, details included. 

COMPANY H. 

Captain, y Samuel Campbell. 
First Lieutenant, Austin Miller. 
Second Lieutenant, Tohn B. Vance. 



♦Killed at Gettysburg. -j-Wounded at Gettysburg. ^Captured at 
Gettysburg. ♦♦Killed in subsequent battle. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HI EL 



141 



Sergeants, **Samuel S. Kerr, Thomas N. Thornburg, fArthur 
Shields, **James M. D. Mitchel, Addison Lance. 

Corporals, William Ewing, Alexander Greer, Walter M. Law- 
rence, John G. Robb, Joseph Moody, fThomas Miller. 

Musicians, John S. Bryan, Timothy Shane. 

PRIVATES. 



-{-Hugh Q. Adams 
*John Blackmore 
James D. Babb 
*Johnston Berlin 
♦*f William A. Brunton 
Thomas Bryerley 
♦Samuel W. Barnes 
**fjames H. Beal 
*William Conlin 
William G. Cowan 
James Cameron 
Richard N. Crouse 
John Criswell 
James Crooks 
♦♦Stewart Campbell 

James Dornan 
♦♦Alexander Ewing 
James Finnegan 
**fGeorge Fox 
♦♦JJacob R. Fleegel 
Robert M. Galbreath 
♦John C. Gibb 
♦♦William W. Herron 
Gibson Hood 
James Hood 
John W. Hall 
♦♦David Keifer 
William Kennedy 
Wilson W. Latham 
Killed and died of wounds, 9 ; 



William Martin 
James H. Melvin 
Thomas E. Moore 
David N. Minesinger 
James Miller 
William McCreary 

fCharles M. McCoy 
Andrew R. Miller 

^Washington McHenry 

*James M. Phillips 

fjohn Purdy 

John A. Robb 
Junius M. Strouse 
Joseph Swearingen 
Samuel Swearingen 
James S. Smart 
♦♦Hezekiah N. Swaney 
David G. Scott 
George Summerville 
John W. Stephens 
♦♦Robert G. Savage 

*James A. Taggart 
William Thornburg 

William N. Uncapher 

Jasper Whims 
♦♦JDavid R. Whitehill 

John M. Green 

Alexander Flanegan 
*Henry Ewing 
wounded, 9; missing, 3. 



COMPANY I. 
Captain, fWilliam McCallister. 



♦Killed at Gettysburg. fWounded at Gettysburg. JMissing at 
Gettysburg. ♦♦Killed in subsequent battle. 



142 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



First Lieutenant, Thomas C. Nicholson. 

Second Lieutenant, Lewis R. Darragh. 

Sergeants, fDavid W. Scott, ^James H. Springer, **William C. 
Smith, f William A. McMillen, Benjamin F. Wehster. 

Corporals, ^William M. Agnew, Thomas B. Hunter, John E. 
Harton, James H. Douds, Robert Dickey, Robert W. Anderson. 

Musicians, Washington D. Tallon, Henry C. Johnston. 

Wagoner, Thomas McCoy. 



Robert Baker 
George S. Bailey 

*John Black 
Daniel Bowen 
John Borden 
George M. Brooks 
David D. Brennard 
J. Dickson Craig 
Joseph H. Champion 

fMartin V. B. Chambers 
**Samuel Erwin 

William H. H. Ewing 
Jacob Fisher 

fWilliam Frazier 
**Israel Ferguson 
James B. Fawcett 
William P. Gibson 
John S. Gillen 
Joseph Gilmore 
Alexander Gilmore 
George E. Hamilton 
James Hammond 
Joseph T. Johnston 

^Marshall T. Johnston 



PRIVATES. 

John Mitchell 
*Edward McMahan 

James Miller 
^George Marks 

David D. McCallister 

Lemuel Neville 
f James W. Orr 

William A. Fribble 
**Levi Rhodes 

Henry G. Robb 

Samuel Reed 

Joseph Rodenbaugh 

Thomas Rambo 
JThomas Shawness 

Daniel Shafer 

Peter Shevlin 

Otis Seely 

John F. Southwick 

William Usselton 

John Todd 

William D. Welch 

Eli Watson 

James Wise 
^Patrick Wise 
fjohn W. Zimmerly 



**Milo McCoy 

Killed, 3; wounded, 8; captured or missing, 1. Bates' Records — 
Agnew, M. T. Johnston, Marks, Shawness and P. Wise captured at 
Gettysburg; all but latter died in prison. 



COMPANY K. 
Captain, William A. F. Stockton. 



♦Killed at Gettysburg. fWounded at Gettysburg. ^Captured at 
Gettysburg. **Killed in subsequent battle. 



THE HIGH WATER MARK ON CEMETERY HILL 



143 



First Lieutenant, Alexander Sweeney. 

Second Lieutenant, J William B. Cook. 

First Sergeant, Benjamin F. Powelson. 

Sergeants, Milton R. Boyd, fEdward S. Alexander, *Thomas C 
Hays, JSamuel K. Shindle. 

Corporals, William R. H. Powelson, George Ralston, fWilliam 
Hanhn, ♦♦Joseph S. Graham, John A. McCalmont, David M. Pry. 

Musicians, George W. McConnell, Jesse J. Norris. 

PRIVATES. 



James B. Allison 
Abram Andrew 
James Arthurs 
James S. Berryhill 
Lazarus Briggs 
George W. Carter 
♦Thomas J. Carter 
Jesse M. Carter 
Andrew Chester 
flsaac W. Chisholm 
James E. Cochran 
fjoseph A. Corbin 
Ezra Conway 
Benjamin H. Cummins 
John M. Day 
Michael Dougherty 
Henry Dickson 
Robert B. Dungan 
fBenjamin F. Earnest 
James A. Fordyce 
William M. Geary 
♦♦Joseph S. Guess 

Benjamin Hawthorn 
♦Robert W. Hull 
George W. Johnson 
James C. Lyle 



James K. P. Magill 
**John Makeown 
♦♦John Maloy 

Robert W. McClurg 

James K. McCurdy 

Benjamin McCullough 

Owen McElfish 

fRobert Meldoon 

Norris Metcalf 
♦William Miller 

Isaac Miller 
fColin R. Nickeson 

James L. Noah 

William Porter 

Robert A. Pry 

William M. Rea 

William Scott 

Nathaniel Seese 
♦Jesse Sprowls 

George Sprowls 

Oliver Staley 
f Johnson Toppin 
♦Robert Virtue 

Ulysses S. Wheeler 

Thomas Wilkins 

James Worstell 



♦Killed at Gettysburg. fWounded at Gettysburg. tCaptured at 
Gettysburg. **Killed in subsequent battle. Corporal Shindle died in 
Andersonville, March 17, 1864. Robert Virtue, wounded, lingered 
until September 9, 1863. 

It will be noted that some of the sick and some on detail were 
mustered on June 30, 1863, and some not. 

On detached duty: Corporals, John F. Gardner and James L 
Noah with artillery train, later in Thompson's battery; Enoch Mounts 



144 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

and Benjamin McCullough, with ambulance train: James Arthurs and 
Michael Daugherty, with wagon train; Robert McQurg, with Pioneer 

Corps; James K, NfcCurdy, with hospital steward; Nathaniel Seesc, 
with commissary department. 

Siek in hospitals: Corporals, Silas Cooke, George Ralston. Pri- 
vates, Peter Andrews. Daniel Puttertoss. John M. Day, Joseph C 

Fraiier, George A. Elanlin, John W. Mickeson. (Wounded Chan* 
cellorsville, William Stollar and Marshall Wright.) 

Total on roster of company, 70 ; details, 0; siek, 10: deserted 
]ulv 1. I. Present for duty in action, 50; killed and died ot" wounds, 
<>. wounded. 8; captured, 2; deserted. 1 ; effectives July 5. [863, a_\ 




•II [OR! \L TABLET 140TH PENNA. VOL. 



THE RETURN TO VIRGINIA 145 



CHAPTER X. 

THE RETURN TO VIRGINIA. 

Tracks of blood, even to the forest's depths, 
And scattered arms, and lifeless warriors, 
Whose hard lineaments, 
Death's self could change not, 
Marked the dreadful path 
Of the outsallying visitors. 

AT eleven o'clock on the morning of the fifth of July, the 
Second Corps left its position on the line of battle and, 
striking across lots, reached the Baltimore Pike which 
was followed to Littleton, Pa. While crossing the battle- 
ground near Culp's Hill we entered a strip of woodland which 
was literally riddled with musket balls. Some of the limbs of 
the trees bore the marks of more than a score of missiles, and 
there was scarcely a tree in sight the bole of which was not 
chipped and gashed with minie balls or fragments of shells. 
We bivouacked at Two Taverns, a little town about five miles 
from Gettysburg, where we remained, because of lack of food 
supplies, until the morning of the 7th. Meanwhile each man 
of the command was obliged to forage on his own account. 
We paid in cash, however, for all the provisions we could 
secure. At Taneytown, our next halting place, for we had 
diverged from the Baltimore Pike at Two Taverns, the women 
of the several households worked continuously, from morning 
to late at night, to cook for us, but could not fully supply the 
wants of so many hungry men. In all the Maryland towns 
on our route of march the residents did their best to furnish 
us with bread, cakes and other articles of food at reasonable 
rates, and always had for us words of encouragement and 
cheer. On the night of the 7th we had heavy showers and 
all of the next day marched through the pelting rain and pools 
of soft mud. We reached Frederick, Md., in the evening and 



i 4 o THE ONE HUNDRED AXD FORTIETH REGIMENT 

bivouacked in our water-soaked clothing, on the edge of the 
town. Here, as on the upward journey, we found flags flying, 

apparently from every house, and despite our seedy appear- 
ance and mud stained garments, the good people gave us, as 
we passed through, a most cordial welcome. On the outskirts, 
south of the city we saw the body oi a Confederate spy swing- 
ing from the limb of an oak tree. This man. as we after- 
wards learned, had frequently been in our camp at Falmouth, 
selling Union medals and stencil plates to the soldiers. These 
visits gave him the opportunity to find out all he wished to 
know about the strength, equipment and prospective move- 
ments oi the army. He was a Virginian and was known, 
where he traded, as Richardson. At Frederick he was 
arrested on suspicion, tried and and convicted mainly by evi- 
dence found on his person. In connection with the death 
sentence it was ordered that his body should hang, as a warn- 
ing to others who might pass that way. for three days. From 
Frederick we marched to the Antietam battlefield on the other 
side of the mountain range and bivouacked for seven hours. 
Later the Division moved to the vicinity of llagerstown and 
halted for a few hours on the campus oi St. James' College. 
At the outtlow of a copious fountain, which gushed from the 
hillside, the writer undertook to wash a much soiled under- 
vest It was impossible to heat water for this purpose, and 
with much soaping, plunging and rubbing in cold water, the 
garment was carefully rinsed and hung- upon the bayonets of 
a stack of guns to dry. About two minutes thereafter the 
bugle call rang out — "fall in." By a quick movement it was 
saved from a tumble to the dusty ground, as the guns were 
being- withdrawn, and when the order was given to march, 
and that too in line of battle, it was plain that something- 
must be done to get rid of the dripping supernumerary, and yet 
quite necessary, garment. The owner had no use for it any- 
where, under the circumstances, except on his back and. 
despite the claminess of this resisting vesture, which clung 
like a tight fitting glove to neck and shoulders, there it had to 
go. With much tugging- and pulling it was partly donned, 
hastily covered with a blouse, and further operations were 



Till: RETURN TO VIRCINIA 147 

suspended until it had time to dry out, and resume its normal 
conditions. 

At Jones' Cross Roads, in the vicinity of the Falling 
Water Ford of the Potomac, we again confronted the enemy 
in force, and in a strongly entrenched position, 

General Lee, having had the advantage of the shortest 
route through the mountain gaps, reached this point on the 
nth of July. Finding the river, which had been much swollen 
by the recent rains, too high for fording he constructed a 
strongly fortified defensive line in semi-circular form, extend- 
ing from Williamsport to Falling Waters, the usual fording 
place of the river. General Humphreys, who has written a 
valuable work entited "Getlysburg to the Rapidan," asserts 
that Lee's intrenchments at Williamsport were not less form- 
idable than those he occupied at Marye's Heights. It was a 
position which could not be turned for each of the wings 
rested securely on bends in the river. General Meade had 
determined to make an effort to carry it by assault on the 13th, 
but when he found the works were of unusual strength at 
every point where an attack could be delivered, hesitated, 
and called a council of war. Notwithstanding the fact that 
five out of seven of his corps' commanders were opposed to 
such a venture, he decided to make an attack on the next day. 
During the night preparations were made to carry out this 
purpose and at daybreak the troops were under arms and 
ready for the signal to advance. 

Caldwell's Division was ordered to take the lead in a 
reconnoissance in force and at the word of command we 
crossed the earthworks of our own line, passed the outposts 
of the pickets, and, after a brief halt, the several companies 
of our Regiment with other commands selected for the same 
purpose, were deployed as skirmishers in front of the main 
body. Advancing rapidly across the intervening space we 
expected every moment to receive the fire of the enemy. 
When their formidable works loomed up before us a rush was 
made to occupy them, and then, to our great surprise and also 
to our great relief — it must be admitted — we found them 
almost deserted. 



[48 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Taking advantage of the dense darkness and heavy rains 
of the preceding night, the Confederates had recrossed the 
Potomac and made good their escape. When the main body 
came up we started in hot pursuit toward the crossing place 
at Falling Waters. We followed the cavalry in this pursuit 
almost to the ford and gathered up a number of prisoners, 
stragglers and deserters. These were all that remained of 
General Lee's Army on our side of the Potomac. 

Thus ended the "Great Invasion." 

From this time onward General Lee fought to the 
death in his own native State, for a cause which he must 
have known was irretrievably lost. It is scarcely pos- 
sible to give to one who was not a participant in the expe- 
riences of this Gettysburg campaign an adequate impres- 
sion of the hardship's endured by the men of both armies 
during its continuance. From the day the Union Army left 
the Rappahannock, the troops were exposed to the intense 
heat of the mid-summer sun, the chilly dews of the night and 
frequently recurring storms of wind and rain, without ade- 
quate shelter or protection. Time and again they forded 
swollen streams, knee deep or waist deep as they happened to 
find them ; marched for days and sometimes by night, also, in 
pelting rains, and slept on the ground in wet clothing under 
the dripping sky. Some of the forced marches which were 
made on the upward journey were in the hottest days of this 
exceptionally hot season, and, at the terminus of the northward 
course, without time for rest or sleep or even to cook an 
ordinary meal, the men were thrown into battle line, and for 
two days following were hotly engaged in one of the most 
notable battles of modern times. There were some who could 
not endure the torture of their shoes on the last days of the 
march, and were declared by the surgeons to be unfit for duty, 
who went into the battle with shoes partly cut away, and in 
one case a comrade known to the writer, went through the 
vvheatfield and into the rocky woods beyond without shoes 
on his bruised and swollen feet. 

The occasion for rapid movements ceased with the retreat 
of the enemy to the other side of the Potomac, and, at a more 



THE RETURN TO VIRGINIA 149 

leisurely pace, the Union Army marched down the river, 
through Sharpsburg and thence by way of the Chesapeake & 
Ohio canal, to Sandy Hook in the immediate vicinity of Har- 
per's Ferry. Here for the purpose of receiving clothing and 
much needed supplies, the corps remained for two or three 
days. Early on the morning of the iSth we crossed the 
Potomac on a pontoon bridge and later the Shenandoah on a 
suspension bridge, and, entering Loudon Valley, went into 
camp at Hillsboro. Loudon Valley will always be remem- 
bered by "the boys" for its acres of ripe, luscious blackberries. 
They were of the "Low Blackberry" or "Dewberry" family 
and there seemed to be an ample supply at the several camp- 
ing places for the entire army. 

They were a veritable God-send to the men, who had so 
long subsisted mainly on salt pork and hardtack, and the 
recommendation of the doctors, to eat freely of them, was 
universally and enthusiastically approved. 

The series of zigzag journeys which brought us at length 
to the Rappahannock, within a few miles of our starting point, 
are briefly given by the historian of the Second Corps, as 
follows: 

On the 19th the march was continued from Millsboro 
to Woodgrove ; on the 20th to Bloomfield, where the troops 
rested through the 21st. On the 22d the march was re- 
sumed, the corps reaching Paris that day, Linden on the 
23rd, Markham Station on the 24th, White Plains on the 
25th. At Germantown, which was covered hy the march of 
the 26th, the corps rested through the three following days, 
moving on the 30th to Elk Run, and on the 31st to Morris- 
ville, where a long halt was destined to be made. The Army 
of the Potomac was now back upon the Rappahannock; and 
here opportunity was to be offered for refitting and recruit- 
ing, after the terrible losses, both of men and of material, 
which had been sustained. 

Morrisville on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, 
about six miles from Kelly's Ford, was in the midst of an open 
stretch of country which was well adapted for camping pur- 
poses. The distance from Falmouth to Gettysburg and re- 



ISO /'///•' ONIi HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

turn to this place lias been estimated, in round numbers, at 
450 miles, With the exception of a reconnoissance in force 
at United States Ford on the Rappahannock (Augusl 3] Sep- 
tember |tli) the Regimenl with its associated commands, re- 
mained quietly in this camp until the [2th o\ September, 

when a new forward movement was made to prevent the 
enemy from sending reinforcements to the hard pressed C 'on- 
federate ai mics (A the West. 

On the [2th of August, General G. K. Warren, who had 

a short time before been made a Ma jor ( ".eneial of Volunteers 

for gallantry and eminent service at Gettysburg, was assigned 
to the command o\ the Second Corps. This splendid officer 
was warmly welcomed by officers and men and SO long as 

he remained in this responsible command proved to be a 

worthy substitute for General Hancock, who tor several 
months, was unfitted for active service by the severe wound 
which he had received on the Gettysburg field. 

On the morning i^ the [2th of September the Second 
Corps broke eamp ami, marching to Rappahannock Station 
by the edge ^^ the river, bivouacked for the night, 'flic next 
morning we followed the cavalry across the river and assisted 

in driving back the enemy through Culpepper, where a sharp 
engagement took place. Then advancing rapidly to the Rapi- 

dan we held the fords until the rest of tlu' army came up. 

From this date until the Sth of October the two armies 
Confronted each other along the line oi this narrow and 
easily fordable stream. The Confederates held a Strongly 
fortified position along the slope id' the Orange Mountain 
range and at some points their line o! defence seemed to be 
a very shoi t distance away. The pickets were so close to- 
gether on either side of the river that it was exceedingly 
dangerous to make any demonstration which involved the 
exposure oi the sentinels or their officers. Aside from this 
the troops were not exposed to serious danger or discomfort. 
It was the season o\ the year when outdoor life was most 

enjoyable ami the weather in general was Favorable for such 
maneuvering and marching as was deemed to be necessary to 



THE RETURN TO VIRGINIA 151 

prevent the enemy from sending reinforcements to the armies 
of the West. 

During the slay of the army at Morrisville and vioinily, 

there was a number of military executions for desertion to the 

enemy. Most of the men who suffered this extreme penally 
were "bounty-jumpers" or "professional deserters." Accept- 
ing the pay that was offered as a bounty for enlistment, they 

took the first opportunity to desert to the enemy and then 
working their way hack to the North were ready to repeal this 
dastardly attempt at some other recruiting station where their 
identity was not known or likely to he questioned. To meet 
such cases of flagrant disloyalty and betrayal of trust it was 
necessary to brand the crime of desertion with a form of 
punishment which should be swift and sure, as well as shameful 
and dishonorable. 

The fust military execution for this crime in the Division 
to which we belonged took place on the 2d of October in an 
open space on the north side of the Rapidan l\ivcr. The 
entire Division was drawn up in line on three sides of a 
hollow square to witness this dread administration of military 
justice. 

When all the troops had arrived on the ground, and the 
lines had been carefully dressed, the silence thai had become 
oppressive was broken by a distant bugle call. 

Then from the lit 1 1t: mound-like hill on which the Head- 
quarters of the Division was located, came a slowly-moving 
procession. I'ir.t came the I'rovosl Marshal wilh the in- 
signia of his office; then the Division brass band, playing the 
Dead March in Said, followed by a tile of thirteen picked men 
with loaded muskets; next came four men bearing a rough 
pine coffin on their shoulders, and, directly behind ibis grue- 
some object walked the condemned man, a private of the 
Sixty-sixth New York, arm in arm with the chaplain. An- 
other file of men, the reserves, brought up the rear of this 

mournful procession. With slow and measured tread, keeping 

time to the funeral dirge, the prisoner and his escort wound 
down the hill, passed between the lines and balled af ;i 
freshly-dug grave, at the open end of the square. Here, amid 



152 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

solemn stillness, the warrant for the execution was read. This 
was followed by the offering of a brief prayer, the last fare- 
well of the officer in charge, and then the condemned man 
unbuttoned his coat exposing a clean, white shirt. A hand- 
kerchief was bound over his eyes and he took his seat on 
the coffin. A moment later the Provost Marshal stepped aside 
and unsheathed his sword. For an instant it glittered in the 
air, and, with the flash came a rattling volley of musketry, 
and all was over. After the file of men had fired they stood 
at attention, like statues, in line. The Provost Marshal took 
his position in front of them with drawn sword and there, 
before their victim, they stood until the whole Division had 
passed the spot. Then they all filed away to their camps, 
the dead man was buried, and military justice was satisfied. 

In the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment there was 
but one conviction for desertion and this was at a later date 
and had a happier issue than the case above mentioned. With 
some of the extenuating circumstances which determined this 
issue there is interwoven an interesting, true story which is 
worth the telling in this connection. The substance of it is 
gathered from approved documents belonging to the records 
of one of the companies, but in view of these circumstances 
and the good record for courage and fidelity to duty of this 
soldier after his reprieve and return to his Regiment, we 
withhold the name. 

This deserter, at the time of his enlistment, was but nine- 
teen years old. He was regarded by his comrades as a "bold, 
heedless, profane dare-devil boy." He had seldom attended 
either church or school and was utterly devoid of a sense of 
restraint to the claims of home, church or society. As one 
has put it, "he knew neither the meaning nor the nature of 
a moral obligation, and obedience to others was a virtue yet 
to be learned in an awful but effective experience. Withal 
he had a kind heart and courage worthy of a Sheridan." 
While at Camp Howe, near Pittsburg, he returned to his home 
with some of his old associates, without permission, and after 
a few days came back of his own accord. At Parkton, Mary- 
land, in the fall of 1862. he stepped aboard a freight train 



////■ RETURN TO VIRGINIA | 

.iiid in a few < I ■' i y s was hack in Western Pennsylvania, "enjoy 
mg the wild, free life "I hi:, boyhood home " I'Yoin this csca 
pade he was bronjdil back by a United States Marshal tO hi 
Regiment, but for some reason no charges were |)ieferred 

against him. In the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg 

lie was brave lo recklessness and in no ease whric courage "■ 
hardship was required did he shrink from duty or play false 

to the rigorous demands «>f service required of a soldier m 

the front. Willi Ihe sibling' scenes of army life he was in his 

element, but he could noi endure the tedious monotony of the 
camp during the long halls, and, when confined io iis routine 

duties in winler quarters, was as restless as an nntanied animal 
m a cage. In Ihe man Inn;- and countermarching of his Regi 
menl in Virginia, during Ihe summer ami .hiIiiiiiii of [863, 
he was always in his place and ready for duly, but when the 
Army of the I'olomac. settled down on Ihe K'apidan for the 

winier, he consulted his own preferences, stole quietly away, 

and for Ihe (bird lime was reported as a deserter, lie was 
found some lime afterward at his home by an officer who was 
sent lo arrest him, was brought back to his Regiment, I ried 
by a court niarlial and sentenced lo be shot to death with 
musketry, at a dale which was designated by the presiding 
Judge. "For Ihe first lime in his life," says one of the officer; 
of his company, "the boy realized that there was an authority 
above him which he was bound to obey." 

lie ceased to lake food, to wash or comb, and with his 
wan face and unkempt hair presented ;i ghastly appearance. 
One of the officers of the company, who had persuaded this 
country lad to enlist, and had pledged him his protection and 
support in so far as thai was possible, was worried over the 
imposition of this Sentence, which Seemed to him to be iiniiec 
essarily severe, but the action of Ihe court martial had been 
approved by the Commander of the Army and from that 
decision ihere was no appeal. 

During the interval between the sentence and its execu- 
tion, President Lincoln made a brief visit to General Meade 
and reviewed a part of Ihe army. Hearing of this visit the 
young officer, who for the reason given was specially intei 



154 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

ested in the condemned man's fate, determined on his own 
responsibility to secure, if possible, an interview with the 
President and lay the case before him. In this he succeeded. 
With a directness of manner and evident honesty of purpose 
which gave weight to his appeal, he rehearsed the facts which 
had led to this conviction, placing over against them as the 
basis of his appeal, the lack of education and moral training 
of the young man and emphasized the unquestioned courage 
he had shown in the performance of his duties at the battles 
of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. In view of these extenu- 
ating circumstances, he asked for a remission of his sentence. 
The great-hearted President listened to this plea with close 
attention. Then turning to General Meade, who was also 
present at this interview, said : "General, we need such men 
and we ought to bear with their frailties. Can you not post- 
pone this execution until further orders?" It goes without 
saying that the further orders never came, and the soldier 
who was thus saved from a disgraceful death, was returned 
to his Regiment and served with it faithfully until the close 
of the war. In one of the battles before Petersburg he received 
a painful wound in his hand, resulting in the loss of a thumb, 
but he refused to go to the hospital or to be absent from 
duty, and on the 21st of May was honorably discharged with 
his company. 

While in its most advanced position on the line of the 
Rapidan, the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment was trans- 
ferred from the Third to the First Brigade of the Division. 
General Nelson A. Miles had recently been assigned to the 
command of this Brigade and the transfer, for this reason 
mainly, was enthusiastically endorsed by the rank and file, as 
well as by the officers of the Regiment. 

Our position on the Rapidan was the farthest point 
reached on the return journey from Gettysburg. The reason 
for its abandonment in more haste than was seemly, in the 
judgment of the troops who occupied it, will be given in the 
next chapter. 



A RACE FOR VANTAGE GROUND, NORTHWARD 155 



CHAPTER XI. 

A NOTABLE FLANK MOVEMENT AND A RACE FOR VANTAGE 
GROUND, NORTHWARD. 

' Ah me ! what perils do environ 
The man that meddles with cold iron; 
What plaguey mischiefs and mishaps 
Do dog him still with after-claps. 

— Butler's Hudebras, Part 1, Canto in. 

ON the 5th of October the Second Corps was relieved by 
the Sixth and marched back about twelve miles, to the 
north side of the town of Culpepper. The view from 
this place was singularly beautiful and impressive. The cleared 
land was level or gently rolling to the base of the Blue 
Mountain Range which towered up, without any intervening 
foothills, several thousand feet toward the sky. 

On the 8th of October it was evident from several indi- 
cations that General Lee was about to make an aggressive 
march of some kind. In confirmation of this intention, the 
movement of a column of troops was reported the day follow- 
ing on our right. Under the impression that this was the be- 
ginning of a flank movement in that quarter, the Union troops 
were withdrawn to the north side of the Rappahannock. This 
was accomplished on the nth. While at Bealton Station 
awaiting further orders, General Meade received information 
which led him to believe that the move to the right was a feint 
and that the real point of attack was to be at or near Cul- 
pepper. Acting on this erroneous information, which came 
from the officer in charge of his rear guard, Meade, to the 
surprise of everyone — the "J°'h. n m es " included — turned about 
and recrossed the river with the Second, Fifth and Sixth 
Corps. This force advanced on the south side as far as 
Brandy Station and with the help of Buford's Cavalry, drove 



156 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

the Confederates back toward the town of Culpepper. The 
advance of the Second Corps at Brandy Station on that beau- 
tiful afternoon of the 12th of October, has been described as 
one of the rare opportunities offered during the war for the 
movement of troops in battle, in level, open country, affording 
a fine view of their magnificent array and maneuvering that 
could not fail to inspire all who witnessed it. 

In a flat, open space about a mile wide the Second Corps 
was drawn up in nine lines, a brigade in each line, with the 
regiments formed in close columns by divisions. Between 
each line were the brigade commanders and their staffs and 
colors, with their aides riding rapidly from point to point, 
as it became necessary to carry instructions to the regi- 
mental commanders. Around each regiment were the sur- 
geons and their helpers. Following in the rear of all was 
the ambulance corps with the stretchers, ready to do their 
humane work of caring for the wounded. Then to the left 
could be seen the artillery, keeping up with the infantry, 
all plainly seen at one time. Presently, in front, as far as 
the eye could see, a flash was seen, then smoke; soon the 
report is heard and a shell comes crashing toward us, burst- 
ing over our heads, quickly followed by many others; yet 
the lines slowly advanced, making no reply. The line of 
skirmishers slightly in advance of Caldwell's Division, which 
was in the lead, hurried rapidly forward, closely followed 
by the main line, but when very near the enemy's guns, the 
firing ceased and the battery with its supports quickly re- 
tired. As they disappeared in the distance our lines halt 
and the battle is over. Thus was one of the finest opportuni- 
ties for a fair open-field fight lost. But that sight can never 
be forgotten by those who saw and noted it. Over 15,000 
men, veterans, tried by the fire of many battles, and by the 
march of many campaigns, — there formed in line of battle, 
advancing amid shot and shell as quickly and orderly as 
if on parade or drill, and the whole field was seen at a 
glance.* 

It was evident from this adventure that the main body 
of the enemy was to be found somewhere else and during 

*Condensed from History of the One Hundred and Sixth Penn- 
sylvania Regiment, page 221. 



A RACE FOR VANTAGE GROUND, NORTHWARD 157 

the same evening positive information came through General 
Gregg, of the Cavalry, that the Confederate Army in full 
force, had turned the right flank of our army and was moving 
rapidly northward with a view to cutting off our communica- 
tion with Washington City. The necessity for prompt action 
to meet this emergency had now become urgent and messen- 
gers were sent in hot haste to the forces assembled around 
Brandy Station, with orders to withdraw at once to the north 
side of the river. The troops of the Second Corps started a 
little before midnight and retraced their steps to Bealton Sta- 
tion, crossing the Rappahannock for the third time in less 
than as many days. From Bealton, which was reached about 
daylight, the march was continued to Fayetteville in the vicin- 
ity of the famous Sulphur Springs. Here a halt was made 
to prepare a cup of coffee and in three-quarters of an hour 
the march was resumed. On this forced march the Second 
Corps was the rear guard of the army and the First Divi- 
sion held the post of honor as the rear Division of the Corps. 

"The day's march," says General Walker, "was long 
and wearisome. The distance covered was not great, but 
such were the delays and interruptions due to the pres- 
ence of another corps (the Third) on the road in front and 
to the necessity of guarding continually against attacks upon 
our left flank, that it was not until nine o'clock in the even- 
ing that the corps bivouacked on the south side of Cedar 
Run, not far from the little village of Auburn." 

Before daylight we were aroused from our broken slum- 
bers and moved out like spectres in the fog which hung over 
the valley. About a fourth of a mile from the fording place 
of the stream the Division was halted on a bare knoll or 
ridge to give time for the rest of the column to come up. 
About this time a force of cavalry and infantry belonging to 
Rodes' Division of Ewell's Corps fiercely attacked General 
Gregg, who with his Cavalry Division, was holding the ap- 
proaches to the road leading to the ford. Seeing that he was 
hard pressed by superior numbers, General Warren sent Car- 
roll's Brigade to his assistance. During the progress of this 



158 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

spirited contest, Caldwell's men were allowed to unsling knap- 
sacks, stack arms and make preparations for a hurried break- 
fast. 

"While thus engaged," says the historian of the corps, 
"in their domestic duties, a bolt, out of what was anything 
but a clear sky, brought every man to his feet. Through 
the mist down the road to Catlett's the very line of our 
communication with the rest of the army, the destined ave- 
nue of our escape, were seen flashes in quick succession, 
and the rush of shells was heard, followed by the sharp 
crack which told that the fuses had done their deadly work. 

"The First Division, massed upon the hill, which was 
literally packed, presented to the battery, thus terribly un- 
masked, such a mark as few gunners ever had offered to 
them. For the instant there was a great deal of excite- 
ment and, of course, some confusion among Caldwell's men, 
who ran instantly to arms, while the unexpected foe made 
the most of his opportunity by a rapid and well-directed 
fire." 

The confusion referred to in a general way in the above 
description was very great for a few moments in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the bursting shells. Horses which broke loose 
from their holders dashed madly across the field, promising 
tins of coffee were upset on the fire or abandoned, batteries of 
artillery were rushed up to positions in front of the troops 
and neither officers or men seemed to know just what to do. 
Some officers gave the command to lie down ; others to fall 
back. Before anything could be done, eleven men were killed 
and many more were wounded. As soon as possible our artil- 
lery took position and opened upon the enemy while the men 
of the Division were placed behind them on the reverse side 
of the hill. 

About the same time a charge was made by Hay's Divi- 
sion in advance of ours and the daring foe, who, amid the 
fog, had literally crept up under our noses, was driven from 
his position. The leader of this force, who, on the lifting of 
the fog, had found himself in a position to do this damage 
was the famous General J. E. B. Stuart. His command at 



A RACE FOR VANTAGE GROUND, NORTHWARD 159 

the time consisted of two brigades of cavalry and seven pieces 
of artillery. He himself had been caught between the mov- 
ing columns of the Union Army and not knowing how to 
get out in the darkness, had hidden his troops in a dense pine 
wood near the road to Catlett Station. It is said that this 
hiding place was close to the headquarters of General Meade, 
and that, had he known of that proximity, he might have 
crowned his exploits by carrying to Richmond, the Com- 
mander of the Army of the Potomac. 

"The closeness with which the corps was environed at 
this time," says General Walker, "may be judged from the 
fact that shots from Stuart's guns passed clear over our 
troops and fell among the advancing lines of Ewell on the 
other side, actually checking their advance. And for a time 
it seemed very much as if the Second Corps was caught in 
a trap and would be baited to death by its exulting enemies." 

This, in fact, was the purpose of the Confederate Com- 
mander throughout the day, and especially as it was drawing 
to a close when the head of the much harassed column ap- 
proached the vicinity of Bristoe Station. Here a determined 
effort was made by a force under Hill more than double the 
effective strength of Warren's command, to cut it off from 
the rest of the army. In this they were favored by the prema- 
ture withdrawal of the rear Division of the Fifth Corps which 
had moved on toward Centreville Heights without waiting for 
the arrival of the Second with which they were supposed to 
maintain a close connection. In this crisis hour the only sup- 
port available was General Gregg's cavalry command. By a 
masterly movement, under direction of General Warren, Hay's 
Division, which was in the lead took possession of a railroad 
cut in which it not only resisted successfully a furious charge 
made upon it, but making an aggressive onslaught in a critical 
moment, captured two battle flags, five guns and four hundred 
and fifty prisoners. This position was held until the other 
divisions came up. Close behind Caldwell's command was 
Ewell's Corps with which the rear guard had several spirited 
contests. 



160 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Between the forces of Ewell and Hill, which thus en- 
vironed the Second Corps, the result, despite every effort 
which could have been made, would almost certainly have 
been its surrender or annihilation. Happily for the Union 
cause there was no order for the combined assault which 
Warren, with sinking heart, had anticipated, and Bristoe Sta- 
tion has passed into history as one of the most brilliant vic- 
tories in the face of overwhelming odds, in the story of the 
war. Under the cover of darkness, the command, numbering 
less than 8,000 men, withdrew from the overwhelming force 
which had threatened its destruction, "marching in ghostly 
silence, across the enemy's front, within three hundred yards 
of their skirmishers and half-cannon range of their smooth- 
bore guns. Crossing Broad Run, partly by the ford and 
partly by the railroad, the infantry made their way over the 
great plain stretching toward Manassas, and, between three 
and four o'clock on the morning of the 15th, the jaded troops, 
who, of the sixty-nine hours that had elapsed since they left 
Bealton on the morning of the 12th, had been in column on 
the road, or in line of battle, or skirmishing or fighting with 
the enemy more than sixty, carrying the heaviest loads I have 
ever known troops to carry in campaign, were allowed to 
throw themselves upon the ground, on the left bank of Bull 
Run, near Blackburn Ford, and for the time, rest from their 
labors."* 

In this neck and neck race for a position commanding the 
approach to Washington, the men in blue, although frequently 
beset and harassed by the flanking columns of the enemy, 
were eventually the victors. Foiled in his purpose to reach 
Centreville in advance of the Union Army and disappointed 
in his attempt to crush a part of it while drawn out on the 
way, General Lee retreated to the position he had formerly 
occupied on the peninsula between the rivers. 

Returning with the Union Army in leisurely fashion, the 
Second Corps went into camp in the vicinity of W'arrenton 

* Walker's History of the Second Corps, page 361. 



A RACE FOR VANTAGE GROUND, NORTHWARD 161 

Junction, where a stay amid pleasant surroundings was made 
for about two weeks. 

In his official report, General Miles, commanding the Bri- 
gade, makes the following reference to the part taken by the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment at Bristoe Station : 

"In the attack at Bristoe, the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania, was placed on the right of Captain Pickett's 
battery, About six o'clock P. M. I was ordered to send one 
Regiment — the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania — to 
support the batteries of Gregg's command, which was sta- 
tioned on the Brentville road, where it remained for two hours, 
or until the command was ordered to Centreville." 

Referring to the same engagement, Colonel Fraser re- 
ports under date of October 17th as follows: 

About 2.30 P. M., when the Regiment was marching 
to Bristoe Station, a brisk cannonade ahead of us was heard. 
The Regiment was immediately marched at double quick 
for a considerable distance and was placed in support of 
Pickett's battery on a small hill in front of the enemy's 
position and near Bristoe Station. About 6 P. M. the Regi- 
ment was moved from this position, under a brisk artillery 
fire, to another part of the same hill, to support Captain 
Martin's battery, where it remained until it was ordered to 
join the column of the Second Corps on the march to 
Centreville. The conduct of officers and men of my com- 
mand throughout the operations and engagements of the 
14th inst. deserve my commendation for gallantry and 
coolness. 

General Meade expressed his appreciation of the conduct 
of the Second Corps at Bristoe Station in the following 
General Order: 

(General Orders. Headquarters Army of the Potomac. 
No. 96.) 

October 15, 1863. 
The Major-General commanding announces to the army 
that the rear guard, consisting of the Second Corps, was 
attacked yesterday while marching by the flank. 

The enemy, after a spirited contest, was repulsed, los- 



162 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

ing a battery of five guns, two colors and four hundred and 
fifty prisoners. 

The skill and promptitude of Major-General Warren, 
and the gallantry and bearing of the officers and soldiers 
of the Second Corps, are entitled to high commendation. 
By command of Major-General Meade. 

S. Williams, 
Assistant Adjutant-General. 

While in general the regulations concerning the appro- 
priation of live stock in Dixie were rigidly enforced, there 
were times on the march when the hungry men were allowed 
to exercise a wise discretion in this matter, provided it was 
not done too openly or defiantly. Benjamin F. Powelson, 
First Sergeant of Company K, now the Pastor of the First 
Presbyterian Church of Boulder, Colorado, furnishes an in- 
stance of a still hunt of this sort which can hardly be regarded 
as exceptional. We give him the privilege of telling his own 
story : 

During the many marchings of the Second Corps in 
Virginia in the fall of 1863, there was more or less of for- 
aging by the soldiers, on opportunity, to better their con- 
dition, as rations were scarce and the boys were indeed 
hungry. One day a fine-sized pig was found by a squad of 
Company K's hungry boys, and it was "appropriated." But 
as bad luck would have it, the provost guard came along too 
soon and the boys were taken in tow. The guards either 
had spoils enough or overlooked what their prisoners were 
trying to conceal under their blouses — the pig which they 
had cut in pieces. So they were brought to brigade head- 
quarters when the camp was reached in the evening. Gen- 
eral Miles took in the situation at a glance. Putting on as 
sober a face as possible, he warned the boys never again to 
get under the care of the provost guard and dismissed them. 
Of course the excused culprits sent up to the General, a lit- 
tle farther on, in point of time, a good roast from one of 
the hindquarters. And, so far as known, the boys were 
never caught again by the guards. 

On the 7th of November the Corps broke camp and 
started upon the second stage of the return to the line of the 



A RACE FOR VANTAGE GROUND, NORTHWARD 163 

Rapidan. Crossing the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford, the 
troops advanced with but little opposition on the part of the 
enemy to the open ground near Brandy Station, which the 
army had occupied before the beginning of the Confederate 
flanking movement. As our lines advanced, Lee's army with- 
drew to its former position behind the Rapidan River. The 
camp of the Second Corps was located, with every prospect 
of a stay for the winter season, at Berry Hill in the vicinity of 
Stevensburg. It was evident that the Confederates had located 
in this vicinity, a short time before, with the same expecta- 
tions; for they had constructed comfortable little cabins of 
pine clapboards, tightly shingled, with snug bunks inside. In 
the vicinity of this winter camp they had also made corduroy 
roads and other improvements with a view to making their 
stay as comfortable as possible. In some of the huts we found 
dough just made up which the owners had not the time to 
bake, while in others flour was scattered around which they 
could not carry away. Thus it turned out that the flanking 
movement ended just where it began, and at its close the two 
armies occupied virtually the same positions which they had 
held before they started on this northward race. 



1 64 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CHAPTER XII. 

WINTER ON THE RAPIDAN. 

The winter of 1863-64, on the banks of the Rapidan 
was passed in preparation by both armies for that wrestle 
of giants which was to begin in May in the Wilderness and 
end at Appomattax in the following April. 

John B. Gordon, Major-General Confederate Army. 

BEFORE the preparation period to which General Gordon 
refers, an aggressive movement was made by the 
Union Army in the beginning of the winter season, 
which has passed into history as the "Mine Run Campaign." 

"The object of this well-conceived movement," says Gen- 
eral Walker, "was, by a rapid march, to get inside Lee's line 
of defense at Mine Run, and there to bring on a fight on a 
fair field, with the possible added advantage of finding the 
two Confederate Corps of Hill and Ewell so widely apart, for 
convenience of winter quarters, as to allow them to be beaten 
in detail. From the first, however, the movement was embar- 
rassed by delays and blunders." 

Some of the delays might have been avoided, but others 
were caused by the fickle climate of Virginia at this changeful 
season of the year. On the night preceding the day which 
had been designated for this preconcerted move, there was a 
succession of heavy showers which continued with occasional 
intermissions until noon of the next day. By this time the 
roads were in bad condition and the order was countermanded. 
The period of rainfall which had so summarily disarranged 
the plans of General Meade was followed by a cold wave and 
in a few hours the roads, although rough and rutty, were so 
solidly frozen that they were everywhere available for the 
passage of the artillery and army trains. In the hope that 
this change of weather would be favorable to his purpose, the 



WINTER ON THE RAPIDAN 165 

Commanding General gave orders to his corps commanders 
to resume the deferred movement on the next day, — the 26th 
inst. 

Early on the morning of that day the troops of the 
Second Corps broke camp and took the road to Germanna 
Ford. On their arrival at this designated crossing they were 
halted for several hours in consequence of the failure of the 
co-operating column, under General French, to appear at the 
next ford above. When, at last, the order was given to ad- 
vance, the One Hundred and Fortieth and the Eighty-first 
Pennsylvania were deployed as skirmishers. Holding their 
rifles above their heads this courageous little vanguard dashed 
across the river, wading up to their armpits in its icy cold 
water, and took possession of the opposite landing. The Con- 
federates, who had made a show of defending it, quickly with- 
drew and the engineers began to lay the bridges. The rains 
had so swollen the river that the estimated number of pon- 
toons were not sufficient and a second delay was experienced, 
while additional boats were secured from the reserve train in 
the rear. After the crossing was effected, the men were pushed 
rapidly forward, but instead of reaching Robertson's tavern 
as had been contemplated, with a view to attacking the posi- 
tion of the enemy the next morning, they were obliged in 
consequence of the approach of darkness, to halt and bivouack 
at Flat Run Church, about four miles beyond the ford. When 
Robertson's Tavern was reached the next morning, about ten 
o'clock, it was no longer possible to take the enemy by sur- 
prise. The failure of General French to appear with his sup- 
porting columns on the right prevented a general engagement 
that day and meanwhile the Confederates, working day and 
night, had constructed a strong line of defence behind Mine 
Run, which could not be carried except by direct assault. On 
the 28th the whole army confronted this intrenched line, which 
General Morgan, the Chief of Staff after careful scrutiny de- 
scribed as a position of "almost impregnable strength." See- 
ing the futility of an attack directly in his front and being 
unwilling to give up the purpose for which the movement thus 
far had been made, General Meade entrusted to Warren, the 



-j 



t66 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

command of a flanking column consisting of a force of about 
16,000 men, including his mvn corps, which lie directed to 
march to the left behind the rest of the army and attack the 
extreme right of the enemy's lines. This turning column, 
despite every effort to hasten its movements, did not come into 
a position to attack until near the going down of the sun on 
the evening of the 29th, and in anticipation of an assault the 
next morning, the weary troops went into bivouac. The light 
of the next morning revealed a strongly fortified chain of 
earthworks. The men who were designated to lead the as- 
saulting column gave such articles of value as they had in 
their possession, with a last message to loved ones at home, 
fully realizing that they were to lead a forlorn hope, in which, 
if success should crown their attempt, many must fall by tnc 
way. 

"No one doubted," says Walker, "that the contest would 
be long and furious and obstinate ; and, as the cold of the last 
day of November grew more and more intense, it was impos- 
sible to think without a shudder of the fate of the wounded 
of the coming tight." It had been arranged that the artillery 
on the right and centre should open on the enemy at eight 
o'clock when Warren should immediately assault. The young 
commander, upon whom this responsibility had been laid, had 
been studying the position in his front during most of the 
night and more carefully from the early dawn of the morning 
and, a short time before the signal was to be given, "suddenly 
announced that he would not attack unless he received renewed 
instructions from General Meade ; and at once rode off to 
consult the Commander of the Army of the Potomac." 

This decision was based upon his own quick perception 
of the extreme peril of the undertaking and in view of all the 
attending circumstances it was a braver act than if he had led 
the assaulting column in person. General Meade at once ac- 
quiesced in his decision and, on the next day, December 1st, 
issued orders to withdraw during the night. A long and 
almost continuous march of a night and a day, by way of 
Culpepper Mine Ford, brought the weary troops of the Sec- 
ond Corps back to the comfortable quarters which they had 



WINTER ON THE RAPIDAN 167 

left seven days before. This night of marching, like the night 
preceding it, was intensely cold and in several places blazing 
fires were kindled in the woods on either side of the road- 
ways to warm the chilled bodies of the men, as well as to light 
the way through the wilderness which environed them. In 
some places fire had spread to the underbrush on either side 
of the road and we literally marched through a region of 
heated air which, for the time, was a pleasant relief from the 
biting cold outside of it. 

Throughout the whole of this brief campaign there was 
much suffering from the cold winds and especially on the 
skirmish and picket lines, where fires could not be kindled. 

In some places of greatest exposure the pickets were re- 
lieved every half hour. Instances were reported where sentries 
were frozen to death on their posts and others, with limbs 
badly frozen, were brought in on stretchers by the ambulance 
corps. 

The following report of the Brigade Commander, Gen- 
eral Miles, under date of December nth, gives some inter- 
esting details with respect to the part which was taken by the 
One Hundred and Fortieth, as well as of the brigade in 
general : 

My brigade started from camp on Mountain Run on 
the morning of the 26th ult. and crossed the Rapidan at 
Germanna Ford. Two Regiments (Eighty-first and One 
Hundred and Fortieth) forded the river. Marched within 
a mile of Wilderness Tavern and there bivouacked. On 
the morning of the 27th, marched until the head of the 
column met the enemy, near Robertson's Tavern. During 
the day the brigade held several positions, but was not en- 
gaged, the division being held in reserve. Remained here 
for the night. The enemy having fallen back during the 
night we again advanced, finding the enemy at Mine Run, 
strongly intrenched. Remained on line during the entire 
day, the 28th. 

At 6 A. M., the 29th, the brigade marched to New Hope 
Church. Near this point I received orders from General 
Caldwell to advance on the left of the railroad cut and 
deploy the Sixty-first New York, the Eighty-first and the 
Twenty-sixth Michigan as skirmishers, at one pace intervals, 



108 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania marching by 
the right of companies to the front as a support. I ad- 
vanced in this order three miles without any other support 
than of my own brigade, driving the enemy's cavalry and 
infantry until my right was within 500 yards of the enemy's 
works. Here my right flank was much exposed to their in- 
fantry, artillery and Stuart's cavalry on my left. I was 
obliged to halt and wait for more than an hour for other 
troops to come up. So unexpected and rapid was this 
advance that the enemy seemed to be taken by surprise and 
were dislodged at every point without halting. While wait- 
ing for support to arrive the enemy advanced a line of in- 
fantry to within 200 yards of my immediate front, at the 
same time opening a fire of artillery from one section. My 
order to advance was welcomed by a cheer from the whole 
line, which gallantly charged them, and, after a short but 
sharp conflict, the enemy broke and fled in great confusion. 
The line was then halted. Occasional firing was kept up 
until 7 P. M., when a portion of the skirmish line was with- 
drawn to the wood in rear. 

On the morning of the 30th the brigade moved to the 
right, with right resting on Orange Plank Road, and re- 
mained there that night and next day, December 1st, until 
8 P. M., when the brigade marched to our present camp 
on Mountain Run, crossing the Rapidan at Culpepper Mine 
Ford at 9 A. M., December 1st, and arrived at camp at 
5 P. M. 

During the entire movement the officers and men of the 
brigade sustained the reputation they won on former occa- 
sions, and returned to camp after the seven-days' march 
without any stragglers or a single man missing. 

I am much indebted to Col. H. Boyd McKean, Eighty- 
first Pennsylvania, for the able manner in which he con- 
ducted the skirmish line. Col. Farrar, Twenty-sixth Mich- 
igan; Col. Fraser, One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania, 
and Lieut. -Col. K. O. Broady, Sixty-first New York, are de- 
serving of favorable mention. — N. A. Miles. 

In his official report Colonel Fraser mentions the fact 
that 6 officers and 180 men of his command were detailed for 
picket duty on the night of the withdrawal from Mine Run. 
This detail kept up a brave show by keeping the fires burning 
along their line until about two o'clock in the morning when 
they also withdrew and by rapid marches rejoined their Regi- 



WINTER ON THE RAPIDAN 169 

ment on the north side of the Rapidan. The casualties re- 
ported were one killed and two wounded. 

The series of campaig-ns of the fateful year 1863, closed 
with the Mine Run venture, and the troops went into per- 
manent camps for the winter. The well-earned rest from 
marching- and conflicts of almost daily occurrence with some 
portion of the enemy's forces, was uninterrupted, with one 
exception, for a period of five months. The camp sites were 
soon cleared of all rubbish, comfortable, canvas-covered cabins 
were erected and in this location, which was more sheltered 
than the winter camp of the year before, the troops in general 
had more comforts and less hardships than at any other time 
during the period of the war. The completion of the railroad 
to the vicinity of the camp insured the prompt delivery of 
army supplies of all kinds and there was no lack of soft bread, 
vegetables and even of delicacies, which, for the most part, 
were sent in boxes from friends and the home folk in the 
North. Two saw mills and a grist mill in the vicinity of the 
First Division camp were appropriated and manned by sol- 
diers, who understood how to run them, during- the period 
of our stay. The saw mills furnished lumber for ordinary 
building purposes as well as fragrant cedar boards for the 
lining and wainscoting of the officers' mess room and tents 
and out of the ranks of the soldiers, details of willing workers 
could always be secured to do first-class work in wood or 
stone. The authorized enlistment and mustering in of a Divi- 
sion band of carefully selected musicians from Boston and 
other cities was completed in the fall of 1863. This band 
which had a membership of thirty-two, soon became famous 
in army circles and was greatly in demand on all public occa- 
sions as well as at the Headquarters of the Division to which 
it belonged. To provide a suitable place for it in the winter 
season, a "Music Hall" of large proportions was built of the 
lumber furnished by the mills. It was used for concerts, balls, 
lectures and church services. Mrs. Lippincott (Grace Green- 
wood), Anna Dickenson, Vice-President Hamlin and other 
platform speakers of that time, gave interesting lectures in 
this building before large and appreciative audiences. Dur- 



170 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

ing one Sabbath service which was held in it, the hand of 
thirty-two pieces accompanied the congregation in the singing 
of the One Hundredth Psalm. There was something inex- 
pressibly grand in the rich and full chorus of the male voices, 
with such an accompaniment to the blessedly familiar tune 
"Old Hundred." There were tears in the voices as well as in 
the eyes of many who joined in that song - of praise, as mem- 
ories of home and visions of its peaceful worshipping assem- 
blies rose before them. 

One of the gayest of the assemblies which were enter- 
tained within its walls, was a full dress ball on the night of 
I Ik- 22d of February. This assembly was in honor of the 
ladies, families of the officers and visitors, numbering not 
far short of two hundred, at the various headquarters of the 
several commands throughout the army. 

The interior of the hall was beautifully and tastefully 
decorated for the occasion with regimental and headquarter 
Hags of all the arms of the service. "A camp scene," as one 
has described it, "was arranged on an elevated platform with 
shelter tents, camp utensils, drums and bugles, stacked arms, 
accoutrements, and two brass Napoleon guns, highly polished. 
It was a very brilliant affair throughout, to which the hand- 
some dresses of the ladies, some of whom had come down 
from Washington for the occasion, and the showy uniforms 
of the officers, greatly contributed."* 

With such accessories and accompaniments the execution 
of the "Lancers," which the writer, by courtesy, was permitted 
to witness, was a fascinating medley and inter-weaving of 
bright colors and graceful movements, with none of the ob- 
jectionable features which are connected with so many of the 
Twentieth Century dances. 

Tin' One Hundred and Fortieth was not dependent upon 
the arrangements made for occasional religious services in the 
large building at the headquarters oi the Division, but under 
the direction of its officers, erected a comfortable building 

* History of One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
page »33" 



WINTER ON THE RAPIDAN 171 

which was used for this purpose regularly and exclusively. 
It was a frame building covered with a canvas roof and heated 
with a small stove. It was large enough to scat 150 or 200 
fersons. 

Here services were held regularly morning and evening 
on the Sabbath ; and on Wednesday evening, there was a serv- 
ice of prayer and praise, as in the churches at home. 

Before starting on the Mine Run campaign, the Rev. 
J. Lynn Milligan, who had been recently appointed Chaplain 
of the Regiment, in the place of the Rev. Marcus Ormand, 
whose resignation had been accepted June 8th, 1863, — ap- 
peared in camp, and, by his pleasant manner, unflinching cour- 
age in the performance of the duties of his office and his sym- 
pathetic interest in the affairs of the men, quickly won their 
hearts and secured their confidence. As the result of his faith- 
ful labors in this winter camp a deeper spiritual interest was 
awakened and some who had been indifferent to the claims of 
the gospel gave evidence in their lives, as well as by profession, 
that they had become sincere followers of Christ. 

The principal occupations of the troops aside from the 
routine duties of the camp, which were seldom, if ever re- 
mitted, were building corduroy roads over boggy places, erect- 
ing buildings for officers or public assemblies, daily drills, 
when the weather was favorable, and frequent reviews of 
corps or division commands. We were a good live miles or 
more from the Confederate picket line, with the Rapidan 
River as an additional safeguard between the outposts. 1 fence 
the details for picket duty were not so large nor so frequent 
as in the previous winter on the Rappahannock. 

An advanced picket line was maintained at Kelly's Ford 
on the Rapidan, about five miles from camp, to which the 
First Division contributed its quota of officers and men. 
Those who were detailed for this service usually remained on 
the line for three or four days. 

The only interruption to the peaceful tenor of our lives 
during the winter was a reconnoissance in force, in which 
the Second Corps took a prominent part, on the 6th and, 7th 
of February. The order for this unexpected movement reached 



172 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

the Headquarters of the Division at seven o'clock in the morn- 
ing- and a half hour later the troops, with three days' rations 
in their haversacks were in line and ready to march. 

The designated crossing of the river was Morton's Ford 
where a strong line of the enemy's skirmishers was encount- 
ered. Some troops of the Third Division were at once thrown 
forward and without stopping at the river brink, dashed 
through the ford and captured most of the opposing force on 
the other side. The Division under General Hays followed 
and wading across after the same fashion pushed the enemy's 
heavy reinforced line of skirmishers back step by step into 
their intrenched line. A pretense of assaulting the works 
was kept up during the day and near its close there was a 
sharp conflict in which the troops which were actively engaged 
met with a loss of more than two hundred in killed, wounded 
and missing. During the night all of the Union forces, ex- 
cept a strong skirmish line supported by artillery, was with- 
drawn to the north side of the river. In the afternoon of 
the 7th, the skirmishers rejoined the main body and orders 
were given to return to camp. The object of this demonstra- 
tion was to prevent General Lee from sending reinforcements 
to attack the army under General Butler, who had been 
ordered to attempt to take the city of Richmond by surprise. 
The program assigned to the Second Corps was faithfully 
carried out, but the co-operating force under Butler, for some 
reason failed to make good. The First Division, being the 
supporting column, came out of this fruitless undertaking 
without the loss of a man. The whole affair as described by 
a comrade of Company F, was "a march nine miles out and 
the same back to camp in mud knee deep." It had rained, as 
usual, during the progress of this movement. 

On the 23d of February, the day following the military 
ball, the Second Corps was reviewed by General Meade in the 
presence of Vice-President Hamlin and other distinguished 
visitors, including a large number of ladies. Miss Hamlin, 
the daughter of the Vice-President, Mrs. Curtin and daughter 
of Governor Curtin's household were among the number of 
invited guests at the Division Headquarters. The former rode 




\' 




Major-Gen erai V \ Humphreys, 
Major-Gen krai P [I. Sheridan. Generai l ' S. Grani Major-Generai G. K. Warrkn. 

Maior til Nl km I'. C Bari ow 



WINTER ON THE RAPIDAN 173 

On horseback along the lines with the cavalcade of General 
Meade. This review was regarded by all who witnessed it as 
one of the most brilliant affairs of its kind during the winter 
season. At its close General ECilpatrick, whose splendid corps 
was included in the pageant, lead his command in a charge 
across the open plain. 

Thrilling beyond description was the flashing of the 
drawn sabres and the thunder of the horses hoofs as with a 
blood-curdling yell they swept onward with a might that 
seemed to be irresistible, against an imaginary foe. Ten days 
later this splendidly equipped and officered corps was making 
a raid in rear of General Lee's army within sight of the city 
of Richmond. 

On the ioth of March, Lieutenant General Grant was 
assigned fcO the command of all the armies of the United 
States and on the 24th clay of the same month he came down 
to the Army of the Potomac and established his field head- 
quarters at Culpepper Court House. With this army he re- 
mained, not for the purpose of superseding General Meade, 
but with a view to co-operating more closely with him in the 
contemplated movements to be directed against the Army of 
Northern Virginia. The arrival and disposition of new re- 
cruits and re-enlisted men gave the opportunity for a thorough 
reorganization of the army. With a view to greater efficiency 
the five army corps were reduced to three. This was done by 
breaking up the First and Third and distributing the several 
divisions among the troops of the Second, Fifth and Sixth. 
The first was transferred entire to the Fifth Corps to which 
General Warren was given the command. The Third Divi- 
sion of the Third Corps was given to the Sixth Corps, com- 
manded by General Sedgwick and the two remaining Divisions 
were assigned to the Second Corps and formed its Third and 
Fourth Divisions. Previous to this, the old Second Corps had 
been consolidated into two Divisions known as the First and 
Second. 

As the result of these changes, General Caldwell was 
transferred to another command and Brigadier-General Bar- 
low, who had been desperately wounded at Gettysburg and 



174 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

who was already famous as a "fighting General," was assigned 
to the command of the First Division in his stead. The Corps 
as thus reorganized numbered more than 25,000 men and was 
again commanded by Major-General Hancock. General Miles 
was also continued in command of the First Brigade. The 
command as a whole was reviewed by General Grant on the 
22d of April. The weather for several days preceding 
had been unsettled and stormy, but the day of the re- 
view was one of the most beautiful of the season. As the 
remaining days of the month of April wore away, the 
roads began to harden and every indication from the Head- 
quarters of the army betokened an advance which many hoped 
and prayed would be the last and final struggle for the cause 
of liberty and the Union. The time had now come, says Gen- 
eral Walker, when this newly reinforced corps was to be 
thrown into one of the most furious campaigns of human 
history, the strength of a regiment, the strength of a brigade, 
to be shot down in a day, with as many more the next ; a 
month to be one continuous battle, only interrupted by long 
and fatiguing marches; two, or three, or four officers com- 
manding the same Regiment or Brigade in a single week. 
Or, as another has expressed it : "The Army of the Potomac 
was about to enter upon a campaign in which it should fight 
more days, lose more men and suffer more sacrifices in two 
months than it had in all its two years' operations." 



THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS 175 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE BATTLES OK THE WILDERNESS. 

Soldiers ! the eyes of the whole country are looking 
with anxious hope to the blow you are about to strike in the 
most sacred cause that ever called men to arms. Remem- 
ber your homes, your wives and children, and bear in mind 
that the sooner your enemies are overcome, the sooner 
you will be restored to enjoy the benefits and blessings of 
peace. . . . 

While clear consciences and strong arms, actuated by a 
high sense of duty, fighting to preserve the Government 
and the institutions handed down to us by our forefathers — 
if true to ourselves — victory, under God's blessing, must and 
will attend our efforts. — General Meade's Address to the 
Army of the Potomac at the beginning of the Gampaign 
of 1864. 

WHEN the foregoing appeal was issued, General Meade 
had under his command an effective force of 105,000 
men. This did not include Burnside's Corps which 
had returned from the West and was then at Warrington, 
Virginia.* 

In the advance movement, which Grant had carefully 
mapped out, the Union Army had the advantage of superior 
numbers, and, to a limited extent, the choice of routes. 

* The composition of the several commands with which we 
were most closely affiliated at the opening of the campaign was as 
follows : 

Major-General Winficld S. Hancock. Commanding the Corps 

Brigadier-General Francis C. Barlow, 

Commanding 1st Division 

Colonel Nelson A. Miles Commanding 1st Brigade 

Major Lemuel Savicrs. ........ .Commanding 26th Michigan 

Lieutenant-Colonel K. O. Broady, 

Commanding 61 st New York 

Colonel H. Boyd McKean Commanding 81st Pa. Vols. 

Colonel John Eraser Commanding 140th Pa. Vols. 

Colonel George P. McLean. .. .Commanding 183d Pa. Vols. 



176 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

The Confederates had the inner and shorter lines of com- 
munication; the advantage of familiarity with every foot of 
the "great and terrible Wilderness," in which they sought to 
baffle and entangle the Union Army; and also of strongly 
intrenched positions which they had learned how to make al- 
most impregnable to attacks by direct assault. 

The weird and awe-inspiring region, which will ever be 
known in history as "The Wilderness," has been fittingly de- 
scribed as a "labyrinth of forests, in many places filled with 
tangled underbrush, penetrated by few roads, and these, for 
the most part, narrow and easily obscured. The advantage 
possessed by an advancing force concealing its movements, 
was more than neutralized by the ease with which the enemy, 
familiar with the ground, could form ambuscades or direct 
sudden attacks on columns while marching."* 

In the general order for the advance, the Fifth and Sixth 
Corps were directed to cross the Rapidan at Germanna Ford 
and the troops of these commands broke camp at four o'clock 
May 4th. The Second Corps, with Gregg's Cavalry, consti- 
tuting the left column of the army, were ordered to cross at 
Ely's Ford, about 6 miles below Germanna. This being the 
longer route of the two, Hancock left his winter camp at 
eleven o'clock on the night of the 3rd. This all-night march, 
through a dense pall of darkness, was the first of a series of 
similar movements under the cover of darkness, which for 
more than a month were the rule rather than the exception. 

Following Gregg's Cavalry, we crossed the river on pon- 
toons in the early morning of the 4th and the advance of the 
Division reached the site of the Chancellorsville House a few 
hours later. 

On the very ground which had been ovcrswept by the hot 
blast of flaming batteries and furrowed by plunging shot and 
shell a year before, we bivouacked for the night. It was the 
same army, on the same errand as before, and in the same 
beautiful month of May, but how changed the scene, as we 

*Col. Banes, Assistant Adjutant-General Second Rrigade, Sec- 
ond Corps. 



THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS 177 

awoke from our slumbers invigorated and refreshed. Every- 
thing above us and around us seemed to be singularly attrac- 
tive, peaceful and joyous in the light of that beautiful May- 
day morning. The sky was cloudless and richly tinted with 
the rosy colors which outran the appearance of the rising sun, 
the air was pure and fragrant with the breath of flowers, the 
fresh, young leaves were trembling in the morning breeze, the 
wood was vocal with the song of birds; and the bugle blast, 
echoing far and wide, was calling forth from grassy couches, 
the prostrate forms of the men who had slept in battle line 
on the earth in undisturbed peace and security. So complete 
and rapid had been the transformation, in that one short year, 
that at first glance hardly a trace of the dreadful struggle 
remained. Nature, as if in pity for the ruin wrought, had 
spread over all a beautiful mantle of green bedecked with 
choicest flowers; and, out of corruption and decay, ghastliness 
and death, had called forth myriad forms of life and grace 
and beauty. In looking about us, however, we had not far 
to go to see again the wreckage of the battle, and down in the 
edge of the wood below where comrades one after another 
had fallen to rise no more ; where the low moan of agony had 
been heard from pallid lips; where the bodies of the dead 
were lying with only a slight covering of leaves and soil, the 
spell of the beautiful May-day was broken, the awful din of 
the deadly strife was heard again and memories, revived by 
these unquestionable evidences of disorder and strife, repro- 
duced every salient feature of that battle scene. Thank God, 
the time has come, for which so many brave men longed and 
prayed, in those dark and evil days, when all these scenes of 
strife are only memories. But, may God forbid that the time 
should ever come when the evidences which yet remain 
should fail to recall in the generations following the reality 
and magnitude of the struggle and the costliness of the sacri- 
fice by which the blessings of permanent peace, Union and 
Liberty have been secured. 

During the long and fatiguing march to Chancellorsville 
the borders of the roads over which the troops of the several 
commands marched were literally strewn with blankets, over- 



178 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

V 
coats, dress coats, boots, knapsacks, cooking utensils and other 

impediments which had become burdensome, or at least were 
not necessary, for present use. With these weights thrown 
aside, in this improvident fashion, it became easier to carry the 
fifty rounds of heavy ball cartridge and the three days' rations, 
which, at the outset, every man of the rank and file was ex- 
pected and required to carry on his person. 

In his memoirs, General Grant mentions the fact that the 
wagon trains which crossed at Ely's Ford behind the Second 
Corps, numbered more than four thousand. "With a wagon 
train that would have extended from the Rapidan to Rich- 
mond stretched along in single file and separated as the teams 
necessarily would be when moving, we could still carry only 
three days' forage and about ten to twelve days' rations be- 
sides a supply of ammunition."* 

On the evening of the 4th the three army corps were on 
the south side of the Rapidan and ready to co-operate in an 
advance for the next day. Warren had made the farthest 
advance in the direction of the enemy and was in position at 
the Wilderness Tavern, while Sedgwick was in supporting 
distance on the south bank of the river. Burnside's Corps, 
which had been ordered to the front, was already on its way 
and, by an all-night march, reached the ford and was ready to 
cross on the morning of the 5th. A general advance of the 
lines as thus disposed was ordered at five o'clock on the morn- 
ing of the 5th and simultaneous with this advance began the 
two days of deadly strife in the very heart of the "Wilder- 
ness." In the series of indecisive conflicts which followed 
the battle lines swayed to and fro, now on the right and again 
on the left, but at no point could a commanding officer see 
more than a thousand men, and in many places the commander 
of a regiment could not personally direct the movements of 
one-half of his companies. "At no time," says General Gor- 
don, "was one-half of the two lines in active strenuous battle." 
As the troops advanced through the tangles of undergrowth, 
the battle lines were broken and confused and frequently the 

* Memoirs, vol. 2, page 188. 



THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS 179 

only evidences of the unseen foe was the flash of flame and the 
ceaseless rain of niinie balls which came from dense thickets 
of cedar, scrub pine, bristling chinkapin, or other barriers 
and entanglements which confronted them. In most cases 
the only effective mode of attack was to send in a brigade at 
a time which remained until it had exhausted its fifty or sixty 
rounds of cartridges and then withdrawing it to give place 
to another, which was similarly equipped. What was true 
of one hour in a close conflict on the evening of the 5th, as 
described by General Gordon, was true for the most part, of 
the two dreadful days in which this conflict raged with but 
slight intermission : 

Alternate confidence and apprehension, he says, were 
awakened as the shouts of one army or the other reached 
our ears. So distinct in character were these shouts that 
they were easily disccrnable. At one point the weird Con- 
federate "yell" told us plainly that Ewell's men were ad- 
vancing. At another the huzzas, in mighty concert, of the 
Union troops warned us that they had repelled the Con- 
federate charge; and as these ominous huzzas grew in 
volume, we knew that Grant's lines were moving forward. 

"There were features of the Battle of the Wilderness," 
says General Horace Porter, "which have never been 
matched in the annals of warfare. For two days nearly 
200,000 veteran troops had struggled in a death grapple, 
confronted at each step with almost every obstacle by which 
nature could bar their path, and groping their way through 
a tangled forest, the impenetrable gloom of which could 
only be likened to the shadow of death. The undergrowth 
stayed their progress, the upper growth shut out the light 
of heaven. Officers could rarely see their troops for any 
considerable distance, for smoke clouded the vision and a 
heavy sky obscured the sun. Directions were ascertained 
and lines established by means of the pocket compass, and 
a change of position often presented an operation more like 
a problem of ocean navigation than a question of military 
maneuvers. It was a battle with the ear, and not with the 
eye. All circumstances seemed to combine to make the 
scene one of unutterable horror. At times the wind howled 
through the tree-tops, mingling its groans with the groans 
of the dying, and heavy branches were cut off by the fire 
of the artillery and fell crashing upon the heads of the 



i8o THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

men, adding a new terror to battle. Forest fires raged; am- 
munition trains exploded ; the dead were roasted in the con- 
flagration ; the wounded, roused by its hot breath, dragged 
themselves along with their torn and mangled limbs, in the 
mad energy of despair, to escape the ravages of the flames; 
and every bush seemed hung with shreds of blood-stained 
clothing." 

In Hancock's line on the extreme left of the army the 
One Hundred and Fortieth shared in the advancements and 
vvithdrawments, the attacks and repulses which fell to the lot 
of General Miles' ever-ready and undaunted Brigade through- 
out the two days of conflict which have been so graphically 
described. We are indebted to comrade Silas Cooke, of 
Company K, through his friend, Sergeant Ben. F. Powelson, 
the historian of that company, for the following account of 
one spirited repulse, when the Confederates were massing to 
break the Union lines in a weak place : 

Colonel Fraser, thinking we had better be doing some- 
thing, as the balls were falling thick about us, received 
permission of General Miles to go in on a charge. The 
Colonel gave his orders and, it goes for the saying, they were 
executed. We went in on the double-quick (the double-quick 
of the One Hundred and Fortieth was always a run), yell- 
ing like mad, halted as we reached the position beyond, and 
over a small remnant of the Irish Brigade, then fired front, 
then right, then left, then front until no enemy returned our 
fire. Prisoners reported that we broke by these volleys three 
lines of battle, and, night coming on, they gave up their 
charge, thinking a large force was in their front. General 
Hancock gave us great praise for it. So quickly was it 
done that but few casualties occurred. Cooke was hit on 
right thigh by a spent bullet, cutting clothing and breaking 
a pocket knife, badly bruising but not disabling him. 

In this series of engagements the official report of cas- 
ualties (May 5th-7th) was three enlisted men killed and ten 
wounded. Owing to a misunderstanding of orders Barlow's 
Division, which had been detached temporarily to aid General 
Gibbon in anticipation of an attack on the Brock Road, was 
not sent to the position designated for it by General Hancock 



THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS 181 

on the left of his line, where it would have been in the 
thick of the conflict during the fierce charges and counter- 
charges which were made there on the 6th of May. This 
accounts for the comparatively small proportion of casualties 
in the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment and in other 
Regiments of the command. Referring to this misunderstand- 
ing General Walker says : "Whatever may be the true explana- 
tion, the consequences of the failure to send forward the Di- 
vision of Barlow, the largest Division in the army, were 
momentous." Elsewhere he states that the enemy having dis- 
covered the gap in our position, where Barlow's Division 
should have been, broke through the Union lines at that point 
and turned what had been a decided victory into a humiliating 
defeat. 

The total losses of the Union Army during the two days 
of this wilderness conflict, as given by General Humphrey, 
Chief of Staff, were 2,265 killed ; 10,220 wounded and 2.902 
missing, making a total aggregate of 15,387. The Confederate 
losses as gathered from imperfect data have been given ap- 
proximately at 1 1 ,000. 

On the 7th of May there were occasional outbreaks of 
musketry firing on the picket line, but there was no disposition 
on either side to attack in force or bring on a general engage- 
ment. In the afternoon General Grant issued orders for a 
flank movement to the left with a view to occupying the de- 
fensible ground in the neighborhood of Spottsylvania Court 
House, about thirteen miles to the southwest. 

Warren abandoned his position in the centre soon after 
nightfall and moved along the Brock road in rear of the 
Second Corps. He was followed as soon as the way was 
cleared by Sedgwick and Burnside who took a more round- 
about route by way of Chancellorsville. 

In his Memoirs, page 210, Vol. 2; General Grant says: 

Warren's march carried him immediately behind the 
works where Hancock's command lay on the Brock Road. 
With my staff and a small escort of cavalry I preceded the 
troops. Meade with his staff accompanied me. The great- 
est enthusiasm was manifested by Hancock's men as we 



i82 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

passed by. No doubt it was inspired by the fact that the 
movement was south. It indicated to them that they had 
passed through the "beginning of the end" in the battle just 
fought. 

Referring to the same, or a similar incident James Ford 
Rhodes, quoting from Dana and others says : 

"When the faces of the men were set toward Richmond, 
Grant, in their estimation, was exalted. The soldiers sang 
and stepped forward with elastic step." "The spirits of 
the men and officers are of the highest pitch of animation" 
was the word which Dana sent to Stanton. "The men 
burst out into cheers, swung their hats, clapped their hands, 
threw up their arms and greeted their general as a comrade. 
They were glad that he was leading them onward to Rich- 
mond instead of ordering them to fall back to the camp 
which they had just abandoned." 

During the night Hancock's Corps remained in position 
on the line and early the next morning, May 8th, advanced to 
Todd's Tavern, which was about midway on the road to 
Spottsylvania, thus becoming, as Grant had indicated in his 
marching orders, the right of the army. On his arrival at 
Todd's Tavern General Hancock sent out a detachment, under 
command of General Miles, consisting of his own brigade, 
a brigade of Gregg's cavalry and a battery of artillery, to 
occupy a position on the Gatharpin road, a mile or more in 
advance of the corps. The purpose was to guard against 
surprise and to meet the possible approach of a force of the 
enemy from that direction. Here the command remained 
without serious disturbance until late in the afternoon. When 
about to retire, under orders, to the main body two brigades 
of the Confederate army commanded by General Mahone, 
appeared suddenly on the road which Miles was guarding and 
at once opened fire on his skirmishers. "The collision was 
sharp," says General Walker, "but Miles, twice facing about, 
beat back the enemy advancing upon him." 

In the official reports of this brief, but spirited engage- 
ment which have been consulted, the list of casualties has not 



THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS 183 

been given, but for the time in which the troops were under 
fire they were greater in proportion than in either of the two 
preceding days. The Adjutant of the Regiment, Wm. S. 
Shallenberger, received a wound at this time which proved to 
be so serious that, to the great regret of the entire Regiment, 
he was discharged on surgeon's certificate six months later. 
There was a touch of the ludicrous as well as of the tragic in 
this "collision" which in the annals of the Regiment is known 
as the ''Cracker Fight" at Todd's Tavern. Two versions of 
it have been preserved for us in the records of Companies F 
and K which we give with slight adaptations as written: 

On May 8th occurred the battle of Todd's Tavern, or 
better known to the company as the "cracker fight," from the 
fact that the Commissary had just issued crackers and the 
boxes were piled up in plain view of the enemy, when sud- 
denly they made a charge and our boys were driven back. 

Abel Hunter, who was guarding the crackers, remained 
at his post, and as our Brigade soon rallied and opened fire, 
Hunter became the target of the fire of both, and soon after, 
reinforcements coming up, the ground was retaken and 
Hunter was found wounded, from the results of which he 
lost his leg.* 

The account given by the historian of Company K is as 
follows : 

Company K took part in a charge on May 8th at Todd's 
Tavern, in which the loss, for the time it was engaged, 
was very heavy. Comrade Isaac Miller says that it was 
known as the "Cracker Fight," because Commissary Noble 
was in the act of issuing rations of crackers when the onset 
came. Silas Cooke says that the One Hundred and Fortieth 
(except K and another company) were on picket, under 
Captain McCullough. K and the other company were lying 
in the edge of a woods, along which a road ran, turning 
into the woods just where they lay; and the rebels came up 
on the opposite side of the valley, opened fire. General 
Miles, riding along, was compelled to seek shelter. Abram 
Andrews, of K, was struck and bruised somewhat. As Gen- 

* History of Company F, by Andrew G. White, page 18. 



184 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

eral Miles passed on, Colonel Broady thought he would do 
something, and ordered part of his Regiment, lying to the 
right, to charge out over an open field in front and down 
into the valley in open view of the Confederates. Then he 
ordered our two companies to charge on the left of his men, 
and to cheer as we went in. And there in one volley many 
of Company K fell. Cook was first in file. The one in his 
rear and six to his left were killed or wounded. The 
killed were John Maloy and John R. Tucker. Many of the 
wounded were left on the field, as the Union lines were 
pushed back. I cannot refrain from relating what Isaac 
Miller told me in a letter written August 19, 1864. A sad 
story, indeed ! He was severely wounded in the leg and 
thigh at the foot of the company. John Maloy was at the 
head of it, and, when stricken, both fell and lay the com- 
pany's length apart. They could not move, but could talk 
to each other. 

Miller lay there for five days, then the rebels carried 
him back to a barn, and later to their field hospital. He 
plead for Maloy. But they said he was too far gone. On 
the eighth day he died, so they told Miller; and then at 
Miller's appeal they promised to bury him. Who could 
keep the tears back when told how one of our brave com- 
rades thus suffered and gave up his life in the service of 
his country? . . . Cook says that Tucker fell before him 
at the rail fence where we stopped to fire, pierced in the 
temple by a musket ball, and there George Sprowls had his 
hair combed by another that took the cap from his head. 
Then came the order to fall back to the main line. It was 
a beautiful but, for us, a sorrowful Sabbath day.* 

On the afternoon of the 9th, Hancock was directed to 
come into closer touch with the rest of the army, assembled 
in the immediate vicinity of Spottsylvania and advanced his 
command about four miles to the north side of the Po River. 
With a view to securing- a position on the other side which 
would threaten the left flank of General Lee's line of defence 
three of the divisions were ordered to cross at once. The 
banks of the stream were steep and heavily covered with pine 
timber but the troops advanced in the face of every difficulty 
and driving the enemy's skirmishers before them occupied the 

* Segt. Ben. F. Powelson's History of Company K, pages 32-33. 



THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS 185 

open space beyond it, which they were directed to secure. Bar- 
low's Division took the lead in this movement and about nine 
o'clock at night all the troops were over and in position. We 
were now, as General Grant puts it, "across the left flank of 
Lee's army, but separated from it, and also from the re- 
mainder of Meade's army by the Po River." If this crossing 
could have been followed by a prompt and well supported ad- 
vance it would undoubtedly have resulted in breaking up the 
Confederate's strongly fortified line of defence, but the late- 
ness of the hour and the darkness of the night prevented 
further movements of an aggressive character. When the 
morning came it was too late to continue this turning move- 
ment without great loss of life. General Lee, realizing the 
danger from this quarter had sent heavy reinforcements from 
his extreme right during the night, and thus was ready to 
checkmate the Union commander's game. Abandoning this 
project Grant determined to make a general assault in 
front of Warren's position and for this purpose ordered Han- 
cock to withdraw two of his divisions to the north side 
and take command of the assaulting column. In pursuance 
of these instructions the divisions of Gibbon and Birney re- 
crossed the river, leaving the First Division in a position of 
great peril. In his Memoirs Grant says : 

The enemy seeing Barlow's division isolated from the 
rest of the army, came out and attacked with fury. Barlow 
repulsed with great slaughter and with considerable loss to 
himself. But the enemy reorganized and renewed the as- 
sault. Birney was now moved to the high ground overlook- 
ing the river crossings built by our troops and covered the 
crossings. The second assault was repulsed again with 
severe loss to the enemy, and Barlow was withdrawn with- 
out further molestation. 

The following account of the crisis hour in this perilous 
withdrawal in the face of a vastly superior force of the enemy 
is taken from a valuable outline history of the campaign of 
1864, written from daily notes by Lieutenant Charles T. 
Hedge, of Company A: 



186 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

The Confederates had massed a large force against our 
right and was driving it back to the river. The center had 
also given way and the men were coming out of the woods 
by hundreds, all making for the one little pontoon bridge 
across the stream. I think the greater part of our corps 
would have been driven into the river had it not been for 
our brigade, which had been withdrawn from the skirmish 
line on the left and came to their help. We formed a line 
in front of the pontoon bridge and checked the Rebs till 
our broken columns could form again. In our rear there 
were also two of our batteries, on the other side of the 
river, which threw shells over our heads into the Confeder- 
ate ranks. But the only thing that saved our extreme right 
was a tire which broke out in the edge of the woods just as 
our men were giving way. It was probably kindled by a 
bursting shell, and, fortunately for us, the wind was blow- 
ing strongly toward the enemy. 

Soon the trees in a dense woods for nearly half a mile 
on the extreme right were on fire. The Confederates could 
not advance through it, and that respite gave our men time 
to reform near the bridge. As quickly as possible they re- 
crossed the river, one regiment at a time, under cover of 
the artillery, which kept up a continuous fire. The One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth was the last regiment to cross, and it 
stood in the line tiring all the time the others were crossing 
and barely escaped capture or destruction, as the Rebs ad- 
vanced on it when they saw that all the rest had gone over. 

During the fierce conflict on the right of the Division a 
section of Arnold's battery, when ordered to retire from its 
advanced position, was saved with difficulty from the burning 
woods. There was one piece, however, which was dragged 
by the frightened horses attached to it, between two trees 
where it remained so firmly wedged that it could not be 
moved and had to be abandoned. This, says General Walker, 
was the first gun ever lost by the Second Corps. 

While these stirring events were taking place on the 
right of the Union line several desperate attempts were made, 
under direction of General Grant, to carry some portions of 
the enemy's intrenchments at the left and center. These as- 
saults were bloody and fruitless. The losses that day approxi- 
mating 2,050 killed and wounded in the Second Corps alone. 



THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS 187 

The brunt of the losses of necessity fell upon the assaulting 
columns. Thus ended one of the notable days of the Wilder- 
ness battles. It is not technically designated as such, but it 
was in reality within the limits of the Wilderness region. It 
differed from the section north of it in the proportion of open 
spaces, which were larger, as well as more frequent but the 
tangle of underbrush which fronted a great part of Lee's line 
of defence was as dense and as difficult to penetrate as that 
which confronted our troops on the ground of the first and 
second days' battles. 

In summing up the results of the 10th of May, General 
Grant says in his Memoirs : "The enemy had not dared to 
come out of his line at any point to follow up his advantage, 
except in the single instance of his attack on Barlow. Then 
he was twice repulsed with heavy loss, though he had an en- 
tire corps against two brigades. 

Referring to the same affair the Historian of the Second 
Corps says : 

As Hancock, riding up rapidly from the center, re- 
joined his troops on the south bank of the Po, the skirm- 
ishers of Heth, advancing from the direction of Glady's 
Run, were sharply engaged with the skirmishers of the First 
Division, a division that had long made skirmishing a pro- 
fession. It is a melancholy fact that three men out of four 
who entered the service of the United States left it, if alive, 
without ever having seen a really good piece of work of 
this character. Indeed, most regiments in the service had 
as little idea of skirmishing as an elephant. But to Bar- 
low's brigades the very life of military service was in a 
widely extended formation, flexible yet firm, where the sol- 
diers were thrown largely on their individual resources, but 
remained, in a high degree, under the control of the reso- 
lute, sagacious, keen-eyed officers, who urged them forward, 
or drew them back, as the exigency of the case required, 
where every advantage was taken of the nature of the 
ground, of fences, trees, stones and prostrate logs; where 
manhood rose to its maximum and mechanism sank to its 
minimum, and where almost anything seemed possible to 
vigilance, audacity and cool self-possession. 



188 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

In view of its record from the Rapidan to Appomattox 
it may be affirmed, without laying ourselves open to the charge 
of making an invidious distinction, that the One Hundred and 
Fortieth was one of the notable regiments of the Division to 
which this difficult and dangerous duty was most frequently 
assigned. Its officers and men possessed the qualifications in 
eminent degree which General Walker describes as essential 
to success on the skirmish line, and in the history of nearly 
every engagement or pursuit between the points above named, 
the Regiment as a whole, or in details from its companies, 
proved its efficiency and pre-eminent adaptability to this high 
grade of military service. 



STORMING OF THE SALIENT AT SPOTTSYLVANIA 189 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE STORMING OF THE SALIENT AT SPOTTSYLVANIA. 

Oh, grander in doom's stricken glory 

Than the greatest that linger behind; 
They shall live in perpetual story, 

Who saved the last hope of mankind 1 
For their cause was the cause of the races 

That languished in slavery's night, 
And the death that was pale on their faces 

Has filled the whole world with its light ! 

— Will Winter. 

ON the nth of May there was a lull in the fierce storm 
of deadly strife which had raged along the lines 
throughout almost the whole of the previous day. It 
was the preparation period for a still more deadly and desper- 
ate conflict, one of the most notable in the long history of the 
war, but the troops who were to be the active participants in 
it, knew nothing of the nature or the extent of these prepara- 
tions. 

In the early morning of the day General Grant sent his 
famous dispatch to Hallock, in which he refers to the Union 
losses in the six preceding days as approximately 20,000 
men, and added the significant words: "I propose to fight it 
out on this line if it takes all summer." 

There was a heavy rainfall during the afternoon and 
presuming that this was to be followed by a night of darkness 
and rain, the author of this relentless and tersely expressed 
purpose worked out a plan of assault upon one of the enemy's 
strongholds which was to be delivered at daybreak of the 
next morning. The point selected for this assault which has 
since become famous as the "Bloody Angle," was a large 
salient or "obtrusive portion" of the Confederate line enclos- 
ing a space, "acorn shaped" in outline, about a half mile in 
width and three-fourths of a mile in length. The three ex- 



190 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

posed sides of this area were defended by strongly constructed 
fortifications of heavy logs and earth and the batteries of 
artillery planted within it were so placed as to sweep the open 
spaces in front along all the lines of approach. The position 
was made still more secure against sudden attack by heavy 
slashings of timber and undergrowth bound together by inter- 
lacings of telegraph wire. 



Line 




Hanc ock I , 







andron 

House 



The Second Corps was selected by the commanding gen- 
eral to make this assault and to Barlow's Division was given 
the post of honor directly in front of the apex or outer end of 
the obtruding portion already described. In order to come 
into position for the attack it was necessary for the corps to 



STORMING OF THE SALIENT AT SPOTTSYLV ANIA iqi 

make a night march of several hours, passing from the right 
wing behind the lines of the Fifth and Sixth Corps to the 
left center of the Union line. 

In describing the outworking of Grant's plan of attack, 
Adjutant Muffly, of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Penn- 
sylvania, says: 

Early on the evening of the nth, Hancock had assem- 
bled his division commanders and given them their orders. 
He carefully explained the plan of attack and spoke with 
earnestness upon the minutest detail of the march and as- 
sault. But important as was his council with his immediate 
subordinates, the consultations which followed between divi- 
sion and brigade and regimental commanders were no less 
dramatic and significant. The night was very dark, and the 
rain beat mercilessly down upon the unsheltered troops, 
whether they were in the tangled forest or the open field. 
It was between 8 and 9 o'clock when the brigade command- 
ers of the First Division of the Second Corps were called 
by its commander. 

In a dense and gloomy forest, in a secluded spot cleared 
for the purpose, Barlow met his brigadiers — Brooke, Brown, 
Miles and Smyth. . . . Barlow's Division was to be honored 
with a position of great peril and importance, and now his 
brigades were to be assigned to their work. The flickering 
light of a lantern shed its dim, uncertain rays over the 
dreary woods, and on a little group huddled together in the 
dismal storm to map out the plan of the morrow's desperate 
business. By the lantern's faint, unsteady beam, now flar- 
ing its red glare upon a thoughtful face, almost beaten out 
by wind and rain, Barlow traced upon the moist earth the 
plan of the deadly assault. It was a rude map, but the 
brigadiers followed each outline with eagerness, and when 
the Druid Council was over, each understood the part he 
was to play and hastened to his command to summon his 
Colonel to a similar council. 

After these preparations had been made the men of the 
several commands were permitted to take a brief rest, in their 
water-soaked garments, on the ground. About ten o'clock the 
order was given "fall in." The dripping blankets or sections 
of shelter tents which had served for a covering were quickly 



19* THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

rolled up. a much-needed supply of rations was issued, tin 
cups and plates wore securely fastened to prevent rattling 
noises and soon after each man, in his appointed place, was 
stumbling along in the thick darkness and pelting rain. That 
midnight march, with all that it signified, was one of the most 
memorable in the history of the Regiment; and. indeed, in the 
history of the war. After an hour or more had passed the 
heavy rain fall was succeeded by a dense, chilling, searching 
mist amid which the men moved like phantoms of the night. 
No words were spoken aloud, no commands were given ex- 
cept in whispers and by the sense of touch rather than by 
audible sound each man realized that the comrades of his file 
were close at hand. 

With a dark lantern in his hand which once in awhile 
flashed back a beam of feeble light, Major Mendell, of the 
Engineer Corps, led the way over muddy roads and through 
tangled underbrush until at length the earthworks at the 
designated part of the Union line were crossed. Behind or in 
close proximity to them was a double line of sleeping soldiers, 
but the work laid out for us was not along that battle line. 
This never-to-be forgotten night march had for its objective 
the carefully constructed stronghold of the enemy's defensive 
line and the halt was not ordered until the head of the column 
was in easy reach of the skirmish line in its front. Describ- 
ing the march and the formation of the troops for the assault. 
General Morgan, says : 



The troops showed a little nervousness, perhaps. At 
one point where the command was closing up on the head 
of the column a runaway pack-mule, laden with rattling 
kettles and pans, bursting suddenly through the ranks, 
seemed to threaten a general stampede. At another, the acci- 
dental discharge of a musket startled the column into the 
momentary belief that the corps had run into the enemy's 
lines. Having arrived at the Brown House about mid- 
night, the column was passed quietly over the entrench- 



STORMING OP THE SALIENT AT SPOTTSYLV ANIA 193 

ments and as near to the picket line of the enemy as pos- 
sible, and the formation of the lines began. The ground 
was thickly wooded, with the exception of a clearing some 
four hundred yards wide, running to the Landron House, 
thence curving to the right toward the salient of the enemy's 
works. Barlow's division was formed across this clearing 
in two lines of masses, each regiment being doubled on the 
centre. Brooks' and Miles' brigades constituted the first 
line, and Smyth and Brown the second. Birney formed on 
Barlow's right in two deployed lines. Mott formed in rear 
of Birney, and Gibbon's division, which had joined sooner 
than was expected, was placed in reserve. It was nearly 
daylight when these preparations were made. 

When the designated time for the assault, 4 o'clock, had 
arrived it was still too dark to see distinctly and Hancock 
waited until 4.30 before he gave the fateful order. In his 
official report he says : 

The men, in obedience to this order, rolled like an 
irresistible wave into the enemy's works, tearing away what 
abatis there was in front of the intrenchments with their 
hands, and carrying the line at all points in a few minutes, 
although it was desperately defended. Barlow's and Birney's 
divisions entered at almost the same moment, striking the 
enemy's line at a sharp salient point, immediately in front 
of the Landron House; a fierce and bloody fight ensued with 
bayonets and clubbed muskets; it was short, however, and 
resulted in the capture of nearly four thousand prisoners 
of Johnson's Division of Ewell's Corps, twenty pieces of 
artillery, with horses, caissons and material complete, sev- 
eral thousand stands of arms and upwards of thirty colors. 
Among the prisoners were Major-General Edward John- 
son and Brigadier-General George H. Steuart, of the Con- 
federate service. 

The enemy fled in great confusion and disorder, their 
loss in killed and wounded being unusually great. The 
interior of the intrenchments presented a terrible and ghastly 
spectacle of dead, most of whom were killed by our men 
with the bayonet when they penetrated the works. So thickly 
lay the dead at this point that in many places the bodies were 
touching and piled upon each other.* 

It seems fitting- to include with this report a vivid descrip- 



194 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

tion of the assault by General Miles, the commander of the 
Brigade with which the One Hundred and Fortieth was con- 
nected, in his latest work entitled, "Serving the Republic." 
This the writer is very confident will be read with more than 
ordinary interest by the men who served under him in the 
First Brigade, and later in the First Division of the Second 
Army Corps. 

Marching from its position near Po River, under cover 
of night, our division formed en masse with two brigades in 
front and two in rear, or forty men deep; the Second and 
Third Divisions in two lines on the right and left; the last 
brigade moving into position and, without a halt, forming 
what is tactically called "double column on the centre." Thus 
we moved forward in the gray of the morning for one of the 
most desperate assaults ever made. It was impossible to 
see but a few yards in front of us and, without skirmishers 
or advanced lines, the troops moved in a solid mass over the 
undulating ground up to where they suddenly came upon 
the pickets of the enemy, who fired their rifles and then re- 
treated back to their lines. The fire was not replied to. The 
men had been ordered to remove the caps from their loaded 
rifles and use nothing but their bayonets until they had 
gained the enemy's position. 

The column moved steadily on, passing as best it could 
over the obstacles of felled trees and cut brush, until it came 
in front of the intrenched line of battle with a strong line 
of chcvoux-dc-jrisc in front, that at first seemed impass- 
able; yet the momentum of this column, forty men deep, 
all crowding forward, was irresistible. On reaching the 
chevaux-dc-frise thousands of strong men literally raised it 
up and tore it to pieces and rushed under or over it to the 
line of works with their bayonets fixed. It was the first 
time during the war that I had actually seen bayonets crossed 
in mortal combat; it was a crash and a terrible scene for 
a few moments. The superior numbers of the Union assail- 
ants soon overpowered the Confederate defenders, who had 

* In his description of this assault, General John B. Gordon, 
of the Confederate Army — "Reminiscences of the Civil War, page 
27 — says: "In all its details, its planning, its execution and its 
fearful import to Lee's Army, this charge of Hancock was one of 
that great soldier's most brilliant achievements. 



STORMING OP THE SALIENT AT SPOTTSYLVANIA 195 

held to their position with great pertinacity. They had 
been able during that time to load and discharge their rifles 
three times into the great mass of Union troops, where every 
shot took effect in the heads or shoulders of the advancing 
men. The same was done with the batteries of artillery; 
the guns were fired three times before they were captured. 

As the Union column swept en masse over the fortifi- 
cations, the Confederates threw down their arms. Gen- 
eral Stcuart and Johnson with four thousand Confederate 
soldiers, thirty stand of colors and twenty pieces of ar- 
tillery were captured. 

The assaulting column pressed forward through the 
broken line for some distance, and was then met by a coun- 
ter-charge. The ground was fought over by the troops 
charging back and forth for ten hours of that day, and pre- 
sented a spectacle of horror without a parallel. Probably 
on no other one field of like area of the great Civil War 
did as desperate fighting and heavy loss occur. During that 
time the infantry fire was so terrific that standing trees 
were cut down by musket balls alone, and one solid oak, 
twenty-two inches in diameter, was cut down entirely by 
the infantry fire during the engagement. Its stump is now 
in the National Museum at Washington. Batteries attempt- 
ing to go into action were completely disabled and thrown 
into a disordered mass by the drivers and horses being killed, 
and the bodies of men who fell, killed or wounded on the 
ramparts were riddled by scores of bullets. It was the only 
ground that I ever saw during the war that was so com- 
pletely covered with dead and wounded that it was impos- 
sible to walk over it without stepping on dead bodies. 

"All day long," says the historian of the Second Corps, 
"and even into the night the battle lasted, for it was not 
until 12 o'clock, nearly twenty hours after the command 
'Forward' had been given that the firing died down, and the 
Confederates, relinquishing their purpose to retake the cap- 
tured works, began in the darkness to construct a new line 
to cut off the salient. During this all-day conflict the 
trenches had more than once to be cleared of the dead to 
give the living a place to stand. A chilling rain fell dur- 
ing the greater part of the day and also of the night. This 
added greatly to the discomfort of the wounded men, 
many of whom had not sufficient covering to protect them 
from the cold." 

In the above descriptions, which deal mainly with the 



ig6 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Division as a whole, we have practically the description of 
the part taken by every regiment of the command. It was a 
unit, for the time, of tremendous momentum, when once 
started, and in the rush which followed when the grim red 
outlines of the earthworks loomed up in the gray of the morn- 
ing there was but little, except the regimental colors, to dif- 
ferentiate the struggling masses of the eager, onrushing men. 

A short time before the order was given to advance, 
Colonel Fraser came down the line to each company in turn, 
telling them in whispered words that the Division was about 
to assault the works in front, and that every man was ex- 
pected to do his duty in his appointed place. In a communi- 
cation sent to the writer a short time before his death, Major 
Henry gave his recollection of a cheering word from the 
Brigade commander. "In the fierce charge that was made," 
he wrote, "General Miles cried out, 'I know the One Hundred 
and Fortieth will not fail me'." 

One of the best accounts of the battle by a participant in 
the Regiment has been left on record by Lieutenant C. T. 
Hedge, to whose valuable notes reference has been made be- 
fore, from which we quote as follows : 

As soon as all were formed we fixed bayonets and were 
ordered forward. We had only gone about one hundred 
yards when we found we had to cross a small stream. The 
banks were very steep, and the line was thrown into some 
disorder in crossing. It took but a few moments to 
straighten it out, and we again started forward. We soon 
came to the Confederate picket line which was only a short 
distance in front of the works. A few of them fired, but the 
most were taken before they had time to get back. As soon 
as the pickets fired upon us the Irish Brigade, which was on 
our left gave a yell, and started forward on a run. The 
whole line then started forward at the same gait and soon 
we were in front of the works. The Rebs were taken by sur- 
prise, but there were enough of them awake to give us a 
warm reception. There were heavy slashings of timber in 
front and before the most of our men could get through it 
the Rebs were pouring a heavy fire on them at close range. 
Our Regiment happened to strike a place where the slashing 
was not so heavy and the One Hundred and Fortieth was 




Stump of tree which was cut off by 



balls at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864. 



STORMING OF THE SALIENT AT SPOTTSYLVANIA 197 

one of the first, if not the first to enter the works. The Con- 
federates fought us hand to hand after we reached this van- 
tange ground and many of our men were wounded by bay- 
onet thrusts. Day was just breaking when we routed their 
forces and took possession of the salient. We took about 
8000 ( ?) prisoners and eighteen pieces of artillery that 
morning. Soon after we had occupied the works the Con- 
federate troops of another command attempted to retake 
them and charged us several times, but failed to break our 
lines. We were at a disadvantage for the reason that our 
artillery had not yet come up. Several of our Regiment — 
myself among the rest — turned four or five pieces of the 
captured artillery on the assaulting columns of the Rebs and 
fired them nearly an hour, before our artillerymen came up. 
The battle lasted until nightfall. Our regimental loss ex- 
ceeded a hundred. Colonel Fraser was wounded in the 
charge and Captain McCullough assumed command of the 
Regiment" 

"In this charge," says Sergeant Powelson, "General 
Miles had command of the First Brigade, First Division. 
The One Hundred and Fortieth was a part of this brigade, 
and of the Regiment he then and ever after spoke well. 
General Miles, the lines having been formed for the charge, 
sent his horse to the rear, and placing himself at the head of 
the brigade, led it in the charge. And he and members of 
his staff testify that the One Hundred and Fortieth was the 
first regiment to enter the rebel works. And we deem it 
worthy to be here recorded that, when the Second Corps 
marched back through the region in the vicinity of this battle, 
after the surrender of Lee, General Miles claimed the stump 
of the tree, cut down by the dreadful rain of the missiles of 
war in that 'bloody angle' at Spottsylvania, and took it. And 
Captain Sweeney, then on his staff, by order, conveyed it to 
Washington and turned it over to Secretary Stanton with 
General Miles' compliments." 

This splendid, but dearly bought victory, which has been 
characterized as one of the bravest, bloodiest assaults in the 
annals of war, cost the Division a loss far in excess of any 
other command in the army. "It is not possible," says General 
Walker, "accurately to distinguish between the losses of the 
1 2th of May and those of the days preceding and following. 
Surgeon McParlin, in charge of the hospital service of the 



ro8 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Army of the Potomac, reported the wounded of the several 

corps on the 12th as follows: 

The Second Corps 2,043 

" Fifth " 970 

" Sixth " 840 

3.853 
"Making allowances for the killed. General Humphreys 
estimates the total killed and wounded at four thousand, seven 
hundred and thirty-two; the missing as not in excess of five 
hundred." 

In the assault, and the long day's battle following it, the 
One Hundred and Fortieth suffered a loss of fifty-two in 
killed and mortally wounded. This was nearly as large as the 
loss at Gettysburg, which reached a total of sixty-one. 

Three color bearers of the Regiment were stricken down 
in succession in this desperate conflict, Powers, Biddle and 
Beeson. As the flag fell from the hands of Sergeant Beeson, 
it was picked up by Corporal David Taggart, of Company G, 
one of the color guards, who carried it from that day until the 
surrender of General Lee at Appomattox. This blood stained 
banner was one of the first, if not the first to wave over this 
fiercely contested rood of Virginia soil.* 

"Among the changes in the personnel of the corps inci- 
dent to the action we have recorded," says General Walker, 
"were the promotions of Colonels Miles. Brooke and Carroll 
to he brigadier-generals of volunteers. Three finer examples 
of fiery valor in hattle, of the steady and faithful performance 
of duty, even to the dreariest work of routine in camp and 
on the march, could not have been found in one group in all 
the armies of the United States. * * * Generals Miles 
and Brooke had been conspicuous on every battlefield since 
Sunday morning at Fair Oaks, not more for their indomi- 
table valor than for their command over men ; their calm 
intelligence, over which the smoke of battle never cast a 
cloud; their restless energy in assault; their ready wit and 
abounding resources amid disaster." 

*For fuller account of the regimental battle flag and its bearers 
^ee page . . . 



STORMING OF THE SALIENT AT SPOTTSYLVANIA 199 

During the all-day conflict of the 12th, there were some 
pieces of artillery between the lines which the Confederates 
attempted to recover, on several occasions. Attempts were 
also made from the Union side to bring off one or more of 
these guns, but so deadly was the fire at close range over the 
space on which they stood, that it was out of the question for 
either side to move them. 

On the 13th a detail from the One Hundred and Fortieth 
and some other regiments of the Brigade succeeded, after a 
brisk engagement with the enemy, in bringing off two of the 
guns with their caissons, thus swelling the capture to twenty. 
They were so badly cut up, however, with minie balls that 
they were valuable only as trophies. 

On the 18th of May an attempt was made to advance 
through the captured salient and attack the Confederate line, 
then strongly entrenched, beyond it. Barlow's Division was 
again in the assaulting column and moved forward alongside 
of the division of General Gibbon up to a broad belt of slashing 
which was found to be almost impenetrable, in the face of the 
deadly fire which swept the ground from the enemy's rifle 
pits. Finding that the loss of life would be out of proportion 
to any possible advantage to be secured General Hancock 
advised a discontinuance of the attack, and General Meade 
accepting his judgment in the premises, directed him to with- 
draw his troops. 

Thus ended the last concerted attempt to break up the 
Confederate line of defence at Spottsylvania. General Hum- 
phreys' estimate of the entire losses of the Army of the 
Potomac and of Burnside's Corps during the military opera- 
tions around Spottsylvania Court House, from May 8th to 
19th, inclusive, is 14,679. Of this number he estimates that 
13,268 were killed or wounded, the remainder, 1,411, were 
numbered among the missing. The losses of Barlow's Division 
were 406 killed; 1,803 wounded; 380 missing; a total of 
2,589 out of 5,457, the aggregate loss of three divisions of the 
Second Corps. 



200 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CHAPTER XV. 

ON TOWARD RICHMOND. 

Soldiers, your work is not over, the enemy must be 
pursued, and, if possible, overcome. The courage and forti- 
tude which you have displayed render your commanding 
general confident that your future efforts will result in 
success. 

While we mourn the loss of many gallant comrades, let 
us remember that the enemy must have suffered equal, if not 
greater, losses. We shall soon receive reinforcements, which 
he cannot expect. 

Let us determine, then, to continue vigorously the work 
so well begun, and under God's blessing, in a short time the 
object of our labors will be accomplished. — Extract from 
General Meade's address to the Army of the Potomac, May 

13, 1864. 

GENERAL Grant having determined to make a flank 
movement to the left gave directions to Hancock to 
take the lead in this movement, and secure a position 
on the right bank of the Mattapony River, if practicable, in 
advance of the rest of the army. The object of this advance 
was to open the way to the North Anna River, which he was 
anxious to reach before the enemy should be in position to 
destroy the bridge, or dispute the fordings, at the points where 
he expected to effect a crossing. 

The start was made at 1 1 P. M. of the 20th on the road 
leading to Bowling Green. By a rapid all-night march the 
corps reached Guinea Station, on the Fredericksburg and 
Richmond Railroad, at daybreak, and the north bank of the 
Mattapony a little before noon. Our route during the whole 
of the daylight tramp was through an open country which as 
yet had been untouched by the ravages of war. On every 
hand there were occupied houses and abundant evidences of 
wealth, fertility and prosperity. It was a striking contrast 



ON TOWARD RICHMOND 301 

to the dreary wilderness in which the army had been enmeshed 
and harried, ofttimes by unseen forces, for nearly three weeks, 
and with cheerful faces and spontaneous snatches of song, — 
the favorite being- "Ain't I glad I'm out of this wilderness," — 
the troops relieved the monotony of the steady, wearisome 
march. A brigade of cavalry in our front drove the enemy 
from a line of rifle pits which they were holding on the north 
side of the Mattapony, captured sixty or more of their number 
and saved the bridge from destruction. 

Coming up soon afterward, our Division crossed on thi- 
bridge and deployed in line of battle on an open space beyond 
the river bed. It was followed by Tyler's Heavy Artillery 
and Gibbon's Division, Birney being held on the north side 
in reserve. Intrenching the line which he decided to occupy, 
Hancock awaited the arrival of the main body of the army. 
On the evening of the 22d the three corps came up or were 
within easy support. The next morning Grant gave orders to 
push on with all speed to the North Anna, where Lee was 
already posted, with a part of his army to resist the further 
advance of the Union troops toward Richmond. 

The Second Corps, starting at five o'clock in the morning, 
reached the Chesterfield Ford about midday. The intrench- 
ments which guarded the bridge were carried by assault in 
front of Birney's Division and the way was thus opened for 
an advance. The next morning Birney crossed the bridge, 
driving the skirmishers of the enemy before him and held the 
ground on the opposite side until two pontoon bridges were 
thrown across the stream. The divisions of Gibbon and 
Barlow then crossed on these bridges and the whole line ad- 
vanced to a position within striking distance of the Confed- 
erate line of intrenchments. In this advance the One Hundred 
and Fortieth did good service, as usual, on the skirmish line. 

After testing the position of the enemy at several points, 
General Grant decided to withdraw his two wings, both of 
which were on the south side of the river and in constant 
peril, and make trial of another flanking movement to the left. 
By a concerted action all the troops across the river were 
quietly moved over on the night of the 26th, and after going 



202 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

far enough eastward to avoid an attack on his exposed flank 
the "indomitable commander of the Union Army" resumed his 
march southward toward Richmond, his objective being the 
Pamunkey River, formed by the union of the North and South 
Anna. Sheridan, with two divisions of cavalry, led the flank- 
ing column, and was followed by the corps of Wright, Warren 
and Burnside. Hancock was left behind to cover the rear of 
the army until the morning, and for this reason his men — it 
was a rare experience — escaped an all-night march. The 
advance of the flanking column reached Hanovertown, some 
twenty miles from their starting point, about the time that the 
rear guard of Hancock's command left the North Anna. The 
enemy did not dispute the passage of this stream, and on the 
morning of the 28th the Union Army was concentrated on the 
south side of the Pamunkey and in communication with a new 
base of supplies at White House, the head of navigation on 
this river. 

During the latter part of the summer of 1864 the officers 
in command of the several regiments of the Army of the 
Potomac were required to give an outline of the movements 
and operations of their commands from the beginning of the 
spring campaign until the first of July, under five epochs, 
which, for the sake of uniformity, were definitely defined. 

It fell to the lot of Major Henry, then commanding the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania, to make this report. 
The First and Second Epochs cover the operations of the 
Regiment up to the withdrawal of the corps from its position 
near Spottsylvania Court House, and the substance of the 
report relating to that period has been included in the fore- 
going narrative.* 

The reports relating to the remaining epochs will be given 
in their appropriate setting in the language of Major Henry: 

*To the foregoing statements should be added the losses reported 
by Major Henry in the Second Epoch, dating from May 8-21, as 
follows: Killed, 34 enlisted men; wounded, 6 officers and 120 men; 
captured or missing, 9 enlisted men, total, 169. This report includes 

the assault of the Salient at Spottsylvania. 



ON TOWARD RICHMOND 203 

Third Epoch. 
May 22d-June 1st. 

Colonel Fraser having been wounded at Spottsylvania 
the command of the Regiment devolved upon Captain John F. 
McCullough. On the morning of the 21st of May we 
marched with the brigade toward Milford Station, on the 
Frederick and Richmond Railroad, passing through Bowling 
Green. We reached the station about midday, crossed the 
Mattapony and threw up heavy works. We remained in this 
position until the morning of the 23d, when we moved with 
the brigade to the North Anna River. We crossed the river 
on the afternoon of the 24th and the Regiment was deployed 
as skirmishers, driving the skirmishers of the enemy into 
their works. 

The Regiment was relieved in the evening by the One 
Hundred and Eighty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, when 
we returned to the brigade, behind the bank of the river, 
where we remained until the night of the 26th, when we re- 
crossed the river and supported a battery until the next day, 
when the army was well in motion. The regimental loss 
on the march to the North Anna and the fighting on that 
river, was three enlisted men killed and nine wounded. 

The historian of Company K gives a realistic touch to 
an incident connected with the withdrawal of the Regiment 
from the North Anna, from which we quote as follows : 

At the time the army was withdrawn to the north side 
of the river Company K, then in command of Lieutenant 
Kerr, was among the troops that covered the movement, and 
the men were deployed on the northern bank as pickets or 
skirmishers. The south side bank was twenty-five or thirty 
feet higher than the north one, and was lined with old rifle 
pits. The rebels followed and occupied these, from which 
they kept up a lively fire for some time. The river was 
narrow, sixty or seventy feet wide, and Company K had no 
protection but a few trees, which they hugged tightly, and 
could only take a shot now and then. Late in the day the 
enemy ceased firing. On reconnoitering, the true condition 
was found out. Earlier in the day (as was ascertained 
later) the order had been given calling off the pickets. 
This had to be done stealthilv. From individual to indi- 



20 4 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

vidual the word was to be quietly passed — "fall back to the 
rear." All went well till it came to George Johnson, who 
was hard of hearing and did not catch the command, nor 
was he in a position to notice the withdrawing. So he and 
all those in the company that were to his right were left. 
Having no orders to retire, they stayed at their posts. So 
near sunset, being assured by two negroes, who had crossed 
the river, that the Johnnies "had sure done gone," they got 
together, Ralston taking command. All were at sea, not 
knowing where the Regiment had gone. But they went 
directly back from the river. A few miles on they saw some 
cavalry in camp. Happily they were friends, and gave the 
all right signal to the boys. It was Gregg's cavalry, and he 
directed them to remain with his command until their Regi- 
ment could be located. 

To this story John A. McCalmot, of the same company, 
adds the statement that he and another comrade, anticipating 
trouble from the enemy when they should occupy the 
breastworks on the south side, and not having trees which 
would be available as a protection from sharpshooters, dug 
holes in the sand with their bayonets and tin plates, in which 
they were protected as long as they hugged the ground 
closely. As the sun mounted toward the zenith this refuge 
in the hot sand became so oppressive that they decided to 
"cut and run," with a view to seeking a refuge in the earth- 
works some distance to the rear. These they reached in 
safety, but had to run the risk of being killed or wounded 
by the shower of minie balls which followed them as soon as 
they were discovered. 

Such experiences as the above were not uncommon on 
the picket or skirmish line. In many cases it was necessary 
to seek cover, and when this was not at hand the men made 
such good use of their bayonets and tin plates that they soon 
had a fairly good protection for their heads and the exposed 
parts of their bodies. 

On the morning of the 29th of May General Meade 
ordered his corps commanders to move southward in support 
of a cavalry reconnoissance until they should meet the enemy 
in force and definitely determine the position they had chosen 
for the next stand in defense of the Confederate capital. As 
the result of this advance it became evident that the main body 
of Lee's army had already reached the Chickahominy River, 



ON TOWARD RICHMOND 205 

which was directly across Grant's line of march, and had 
strongly intrenched themselves with the determination of dis- 
puting his passage. At or near the headwaters of Totopotomy 
Creek, a tributary of the Pamunkey, Hancock found a strong 
force of the enemy in advance of Lee's line behind intrench- 
ments of a formidable character with swampy ground in their 
front. 

The advanced rifle pits of the enemy's skirmish line were 
taken by Barlow's Division on the evening of the 30th and 
afforded a shelter for a time behind which the men labored, as 
they had opportunity, to make their position more secure. 
Between the lines thus drawn there was a continual fire of 
musketry, sharpshooters and occasionally of artillery most of 
the day. About two o'clock in the afternoon General Miles 
called Captain McCullough aside and gave him some special 
instructions, presumably relating to the dislodging of a band 
of advanced sharpshooters or a battery of artillery which was 
infilading a portion of his line. As the General turned away 
Captain McCullough ordered the Regiment to fall in. Spring- 
ing over the rifle pit he called upon the men to follow. The 
order was instantly obeyed and as soon as the line was formed 
a rapid advance was made toward the Confederate lines. From 
the moment the little battalion — for such it was at that time — 
appeared in full view of the vigilant enemy it became the 
target for the sharpshooters and light artillery men, who were 
in easy range as the men rushed down the hill. At the edge 
of the swampy ground which lay between them and the Con- 
federate works a deadly volley of musketry was poured into 
their ranks. Several fell and among the number the regi- 
mental commander. The wound was mortal and soon after- 
ward he died from loss of blood, the ball having cut the 
femoral artery. Captain Campbell, of Company H, then 
assumed command of the Regiment, moving it quickly by the 
right flank to a temporary shelter behind a little knoll. 

"After McCullough was wounded," says Lieutenant 
Hedge, "no one knew what orders General Miles had given 
him. We had to lie in that position all that day until night- 



»6 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

fall, for it was certain death either to advance or retreat. 
We had to lie flat on the ground all the time. Every man 
that raised his ho. id was shot by sharpshooters. After we 
had been in this position about an hour the Rebs managed 
to move a piece of artillery down on our left so as to rake 
our line. Bang came a shell, the first intimation we had of 
our danger, which swept down the line, striking in Company 
E. It tore two men to pieces and wounded several others. 
Our batteries quickly got the range of it, however, and after 
it had fired a few more shots disabled it. As above intimated, 
we remained between the two lines until after dark, when we 
fell back to our works without further loss." 

"The loss to the Regiment in this engagement," says 
Major Henry, "was eight killed and seven wounded." It will 
be noted that the proportion of those who were mortally 
wounded far exceeds the usual average in battle. 

In his report under date of October 30, 1864, General 
Miles says : 

Captain McCullough, a very gallant and promising 
young officer, commanding the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, was killed at Totopotomy Creek. 

Captain McCullough had received notice of his appoint- 
ment as Colonel of the One Hundred and Eighty-third Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers a short time before his death, but his 
commission did not reach the headquarters of the Regiment 
until some days afterward. 

At a reunion of the Regiment held at Waynesburg, Pa., 

October , Chaplain J. L. Milligan, LL.D.. gave the 

following graphic description of the engagement and the last 
moments of the brave Commander who led this forlorn hope : 

1 

In the town of Jefferson, in this county (Greened, 
there is a spot of ground that is sacred, made so by the 
remains of as brave and true a soldier as ever drew a sword 
or shouldered a gun, and that man is Colonel J. F. Mc- 
Cullough. On May 30, 1864, on the banks of the Totopotomy 
Creek, Virginia, lay the Union Army. Across the creek and 
beyond in the woods were the enemy. They were annoying 



ON lOWAl'H RICHMOND TffJ 

. ral Barlow was division commander and General 
Miles brigade commander. It was desired to discover the 
strength of the enemy or rather to remove the annoying 
cause. Captain McCullough was chosen for the task, and 
given charge of the Regiment. They had gone but a little 
distance until the enemy was engaged. 'J here were sixteen 
casualties — eight killed and the same number wounded. 
'iTiis was a very large percentage of the men engaged. Col- 
onel McCullough was fatally wounded, the large artery in 
the leg being severed. His men wanted to carry him back to 
the rear, but he would not let them, telling them to move 
forward and "don't mind me." He was found some time 
afterwards by Chaplain Milligan, who knelt by him and told 
he was dying. McCullough was very weak from loss of 
blood and soon expired. 

Finding- his way blocked once more by a strongly in- 
trenched force all along- his front, General Grant ordered 
another movement by the left flank. This was the last move 
of the kind possible in the advance on Richmond from the 
north and it brought the Union troops once more face to face 
with Lee's recently reinforced army, which was determined 
to hold the approaches to the Chickahominy at all hazards. 

On the first of June a supporting - column of infantry, 
which had followed Sheridan, occupied Cold Harbor, having 
carried by assault a portion of the enemy's intrenched line of 
battle. To make good the possession of this important position 
General Hancock was ordered to abandon his intrenched line 
on the Totopotomy — the extreme right of the army — and 
hasten with all speed to the left wing which as yet had only a 
precarious hold upon the ground they had so recently won. 
The urgency of the movement appears in the following order 
from General Meade, which reached Hancock late in the 
evening: 

You must make every exertion to move promptly and 
reach Cold Harbor as soon as possible. At that point you 
will take position to reinforce Wright on his left, which it is 
desired to extend to the Chickahominy. Every confidence 
is felt that your gallant corps of veterans will move with 
vigor and endure the necessary fatigue. 



308 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

This meant a long, all-night march and those who made 
it are not likely to forget the intense heat of that sultry night 
or the dense clouds of dust which were stirred by the advance 
of this marching host and which almost suffocated the horses 
of the trains and artillery as well as the patient, plodding men. 
The designated position was not reached until about seven 
o'clock on the morning of June 2d, and by that time the troops 
were so much exhausted that the attack which had been 
ordered at daybreak was postponed until five o'clock in the 
evening. While preparations were being made to deliver this 
assault a cloud of dense blackness, charged with a super- 
abundant supply of electric energies, suddenly appeared near 
the horizon line and overspread the sky. "Its dark bosom," 
as one has described it, ''was incessantly riven by lightning 
and the thunder boomed louder than the artillery above the 
waiting armies. The wind swept by in fierce gusts, bending 
the trees like wands in its path, and everything betokened a 
wild and stormy evening. Soon the burdened clouds opened, 
and the rain came down in a perfect deluge, turning the fields 
into standing pools and swelling the Chickahominy into a 
turbid flood. The order for the attack had, therefore, to be 
countermanded, and the drenched army went into bivouac for 
the night." 

The two armies which thus confronted each other at close 
range were now upon the old battlefield of McClellan and Lee 
two years before. Richmond, the Confederate capital, was 
only six miles away, and at some points of the line the spires 
of its churches could be seen. The army which defended it 
was now at bay, having drawn up all the forces which could 
be spared from other quarters to augment its strength of 
attack or resistance. Hoke, from North Carolina, had come 
with a brigade of fresh troops, Pickett had arrived with his 
division from Richmond and Breckenridge with a considerable 
force of reinforcements drawn from the Shenandoah Valley, 
in all, according to Grant's estimate, probably not less than 
15,000 men. 

The position which Lee had chosen was a very strong one 
and the natural features were such that neither flank could be 



ON TOWARD RICHMOND 209 

turned. His right rested on the Chickahominy, with swampy 
ground in front, and his left was securely defended from 
approach by a strip of swampy woodland and undergrowth. 
Every part of the line defended by carefully constructed earth- 
works and in front of the section which Barlow's Division 
directly faced there was an advanced line of Confederate in- 
trenchments. Behind this line and less than three miles away 
were the forts, which had been built long before, and of late 
had been greatly strengthened, for the protection of the city 
of Richmond. 

After the abatement of the storm, which had hindered a 
concerted attack on the afternoon of the 2d, General Grant 
issued an order for a general assault at 4.30 of the next 
morning. Before the breaking of the day the column of assault 
was formed, with Barlow and Gibbon in front and Birney's 
Division as reserve. In Barlow's Division the brigades of 
Miles and Brooke were deployed, and the One Hundred and 
Fortieth, as usual, was in the front line. 

"At the appointed hour," says Grant in his Memoirs, 
"Barlow pushed forward with great vigor, under a heavy 
fire of both artillery and musketry, through thickets and 
swamps. Notwithstanding all the resistance of the enemy 
and the natural obstructions to be overcome, he carried a 
position occupied by the enemy outside their main line where 
the road makes a deep cut through a bank, affording as good 
a shelter for troops as if it had been made for that purpose. 
Three pieces of artillery were captured here, and several 
hundred prisoners. The guns were immediately turned 
against the men who had just been using them. No assis- 
tance coming to him, Barlow intrenched under fire and con- 
tinued to hold his place." 

"The result of the assault," says General Miles, "was a 
loss to the enemy of approximately two thousand, and to the 
Union troops thirteen thousand, including many of the best 
men of our army. Three young colonels, with whom I 
served from the time they were lieutenants, bivouacked that 
night together and slept under the same blanket; they were 
laughing and speculating as to the results of the morrow. 
When dawn came they all gallantly led their regiments and 
were all dead in fifteen minutes." 



210 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

With more minuteness of detail, Headley, in his "History 
of the Great Rebellion," describes the part taken by Hancock's 
Corps, from which we quote as follows : 

The morning was dark and gloomy and a gentle rain 
was falling as the firm-set lines moved out from behind 
their breastworks and began to advance over the field. 
Hancock, on the left, first came up to the enemy's works. 
Barlow, with four brigades, formed the extreme left; and 
this gallant commander carried his troops for half a mile, 
through woods and open spaces, under a heavy fire, square 
up to the rebel works. 

These were the immortal brigades which made the gal- 
lant dash into the works at Spottsylvania, and here, enacting 
again their heroic deeds, they sprang with a shout over the 
enemy's parapets, capturing the guns, colors and several 
hundred prisoners. This was the key to the rebel position, 
and could this gallant charge have been properly supported, 
Lee's army, in all probability, would have been driven over 

the Chickahominy. 

******** 

The whole of Hancock's Corps advanced simultaneously 
with Barlow's Division and came, like it, upon the works 
and made desperate efforts to carry them. 

Deafening yells, rising from behind the hostile in- 
trenchments, answered with shouts all along our lines — 
incessant explosions of artillery and crashing volleys of 
musketry — the long, low, sulphurous cloud hanging in the 
damp air above the combatants — the never-ceasing stream of 
wounded borne back to the rear, made the summer morning 
one of gloom and terror to the beholder. * * * 

The brunt of the battle was borne by Hancock's Corps, 

which also gained most of the advantage that was even 

temporarily secured. The Army of the Potomac had again 

flung itself against the rebel works in vain, and rent and 

bleeding fell back, but not to its original position. A lull 

came in the battle, and the anxious question asked by all 

was: "Will the assault be renewed?" 

******* 

The two armies remained in this relative position all 
day, neither making any decided demonstration. But just 
after dark, the rebels came down on Hancock's Corps in one 
of their tremendous charges. Our brave troops, however 
had moved too often on formidable works without flinching 



ON TOWARD RICHMOND 211 

to be driven from behind their own entrenchments by any 
force; and as the dark mass became well defined in the gray 
gloom, they poured volley after volley of musketry with a 
coolness and precision that made the hostile lines melt away 
as though swallowed up by the night, while the deadly bat- 
teries tore huge gaps through the dim formations. 

Thus ended the Battle of Cold Harbor, or, as it has 
sometimes been called, of Chickahominy. 

In the early part of the afternoon, it being apparent that 
further assaults would be attended with great loss, General 
Meade issued an order directing that for the present all offen- 
sive operations should be suspended. Corps commanders were 
directed, however, to intrench the advanced positions they had 
gained and to seek to move against the enemy's works by 
regular approaches from these advanced positions. Under 
such circumstances, not at all favorable to security or rest by 
day or night, the two armies faced each other in that region 
of swamps and malaria for about twelve days. 

"This," says Lieutenant Hedge, "was the worst place the 
army was ever in. The Rebs had the best position. The two 
lines where our Division lay were not more than 200 yards 
apart. The sharp shooters of the enemy could pick our men 
off a half a mile in rear of our line, and the only safe place 
was close to or under the protection of our works. A con- 
tinual picket fire was kept up and men were killed or 
wounded all hours of the day and night. Some were killed 
by random balls while sleeping. During these long and 
anxious days we had to drink water out of a dirty swamp 
in which were dead horses and mules." 

Between the lines for some days after the assault of 
the third there were many unburied dead and also a number 
of wounded men who could not be reached by either side, 
for the reason that every man who for any reason exposed 
his person became thereby a target for sharpshooters and 
picked rifle men on the lines, who were constantly on the alert. 
To reach the wounded men of both sides who were suffer- 
ing untold agonies of fever and thirst. General Grant pro- 
posed that to General Lee that either party, when a battle 



2ia THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

was not raging, should be authorized to semi unarmed men 
bearing litters, between the picket or skirmish line, to pick 
up the dead or wounded, without the danger of being fired 
on by the other party. To this apparently fair proposition 
( ieneral Lee replied that he feared it would lead to misunder- 
standing and proposed instead that a flag of truce should 
be sent. Understanding by this that a white flag would be 
respected on this errand, General Grant replied: "I will send 
immediately, as you propose, to collect the dead and wounded 
between the lines of the two armies, and will instruct that 
you be allowed to do the same. I propose that the time for 
doing so be between the hours of 12 M. and 3 P. M. to-day. 
I will direct all parties going out to bear a white Hag and 
not to attempt to go beyond where we have dead or wounded, 
and not beyond or on ground occupied by your troops." To 
this proposal, offered in all sincerity, in the interests of suf- 
fering humanity, strange as it may seem, General Lee would 
not consent, but insisted that when either party desired such 
permission, it should be asked for formally by flag of truce. 
He also informed General Grant that he had directed that 
any parties he may have sent out — with a white flag — as men- 
tioned in his letter, should be turned back. Regretting the loss 
of time which had resulted from this formal correspondence, 
Grant then asked for a cessation of hostilities to allow time 
for this humane service, and left the fixing of the hours to 
the Confederate commander. 

"Lee acceded to this," says Grant in his Memoirs, "hut 
delay in transmitting the correspondence brought it to the 
7th of June — forty-eight hours after it commenced — before 
parties were got out to collect the men left upon the field. 
In the meantime all but two of the wounded had died." 

In this transaction it must be evident to the candid reader 
that the Union commander gave evidence of unquestioned 
sincerity of intention, as well as of true nobility of character, 
and we cannot but wish for his own sake, as well as for the 
sake of our suffering comrades, that the commander of the 
Confederate army had met his proposals in the same trust- 



ON TOWARD RICHMOND 213 

ful, generous spirit and with the same directness of purpose. 
In a little booklet written by Mancan Sharp, which gives 
a brief record of the men from Amity and its environs who 
enlisted during the war, we find a brief account relating to 
Samuel Evans, of Company D, one of the helpless sufferers 
who spent one night and the greater part of two days be- 
tween the lines at Cold Harbor before he was brought in. 

"Samuel Evans," says the writer, "was wounded twice 
and lay between the lines, hut whether dead or alive 
was not certainly known for awhile by his comrades. His 
faithful friend, John Hathaway, watching closely saw his 
blanket move. Against the advice of his comrades he 
insisted on going to his friend. With a canteen of water 
he deliberately stepped out, and in full view of a strong 
Confederate line, walked to where his friend was lying. 
He made him as comfortable as possible; not a gun was 
fired. When he started back a hundred guns or more were 
fired at him. He was hit and knocked down. He grabbed 
a rebel haversack from the ground to make them think they 
had not hit him. He reached our lines in a fainting condi- 
tion. Comrade Evans soon passed away and was brought 
home and is buried at Ten Mile." 

During the almost daily artillery duels between the 
Union and Confederate batteries at Cold Harbor the occu- 
pants of the tents at corps and division headquarters were 
exposed to greater danger than the men at the front.* At 
Barlow's headquarters, near the edge of a little patch of 
woods, the trees were topped with solid shot, and on one 
occasion the limb of a tree was cut off and fell upon the 
table while the cook was preparing an evening meal. One 
day the Captain of the Provost Guard reported the round- 

*"Thc headquarters of the Corps," says General Walker, "were 
riddled by bullets, and on the night of the 7th the Assistant Provost 
Marshal, Captain Alexander M. McGuire, Seventy-fourth New York, 
was killed by a solid shot while standing at the door of General 
Hancock's tent. It was, indeed, a hideous time. No one who was 
was exposed to the fury of that storm will ever forget how the 
horrors of the battle were heightened by the blackness of the night." 



ai4 /■///•: ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

ing up of some stragglers and skulkers who had sought the 
roar for safety. With a grim humor, characteristic of the 
man, Harlow ordered (hat these men should he tied in an 
opeil Space near his own tent, which he had noticed had been 
more frequently swept by bursting shells and dying missiles 
than other portions of the field. Here they were kept under 
a heavy fire for several hours, with a view to impressing 
upon them the lesson that the post of duty was the safest 
place for a Union soldier. One of the number was severely 
wounded, and the others, if not harmed, were, at least, badly 

frightened. 

The official report of the movements oi the Regiment 
from the North Anna to the withdrawal from Cold Harbor. 
as given by Major Henry, is as follows: 

Fourth Epoch. 

June 2d — June 15th. 

On the 27th the Regiment marched with the brigade and 
crossed the Pamunkey River about noon, taking position on 
the left of the Sixth Corps. In the evening the Regiment, 
which had been sent to support the cavalry at Hawe's Shop, 
rejoined the brigade about midnight. On the 2Qth, at noon, 
the Regiment was deployed on the left of the brigade and 
moved in the direction of Totopotomy Creek. We were 
released from the picket line about 10 o'clock and rejoined 
the brigade in the earthworks, where we remained until 2 
P. M. of the 3X8t. The Regiment was then ordered to cross 
Totopotomy Creek, which it did, under a very heavy and 
severe fire of musketry and artillery. Captain McCullough 
was killed in this engagement and the command developed 
upon Captain Samuel Campbell. At dusk the Regiment was 
withdrawn and rejoined the brigade. 

On June 1st we supported artillery and marched that 
night toward Cold Harbor, which place we reached about 9 
A. M. On the 2d, at 12 M., the Regiment moved with the 
brigade to the left and deployed as skirmishers. Marching 
with the color company in reserve, we relieved the First 
Penna. Cavalry and drove the enemy's skirmishers into their 
line of works. We then charged the works, in connection 



ON TOWARD RICHMOND 



^'5 



with the Twenty-sixth Michigan, and two companies of the 
Second N. Y. Heavy Artillery, but owing to the superior 
numbers of the enemy, were forced to fall back across the 
road, where we remained under heavy fire until after dark, 
when we were relieved by the Fifth N. IF. Vols. 

On the 3d the Regiment supported the pickets on the 
left and threw up earthworks. Here we remained until the 
night of the 6th, when we advanced the line and threw up 
more and stronger works, remaining in this position until the 
night of the 13th. 

The Regiment lost in the operations at Totopotomy and 
Cold Harbor one commissioned officer and nine enlisted men 
killed; twenty- four enlisted men wounded and nine missing. 

The following statement gives the casualties in each 
command of the First Brigade within the period covered by 
the four designated epochs : 



Casualties May 5-7, 1864. 



Command 

Totals 

Staff 1 

26th Mich 7 

61st N. Y 3 

81st Pa 

140th Pa 13 

183d Pa 



Killed 

Officers Men 



Wounded Cap. or Miss 
Officers Men Officers Men 
r 

7 
3 



ro 



Casualties May 8-21. 



Staff 1 

26th Mich 167 

61st N. Y 102 

81st Pa -pj 

140th Pa 169 

183d Pa 161 



2 

1 



35 

9 

34 
10 



1 
6 

5 
2 

6 

2 



"5 

74 

61 

120 

107 



Casualties May 220 to June ist. 



Staff 

26th Mich. . 
*2d N. Y. H. 
61st N. Y. .. 

81st Pa 

140th Pa. . . . 
183d Pa. ... 



Art. 



1 
18 

9' 

3 
2 

25 
36 



5 
7 



9 
11 



1 r 

74 
2 
1 

15 
20 



11 
2 
4 
9 

33 



7 

1 
2 



210 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Casualties June 2d to June 15TI1. 

Command Killed Wounded Cap. or Miss. 

Totals Officers Men Officers Men Officers Men 

26th Mich 28 . . 3 . . 19 . . 6 

5th N. Hamp 231 2 41 5 146 2 35 

2nd N. Y. H. Art 215 1 20 4 170 1 19 

61st N. Y 22 1 1 1 16 . . 3 

81st Pa 44 1 7 • • 33 • • 3 

140th Pa 40 . . 5 . . 23 12 

183d Pa 95 1 4 5 7i •• M 

In the judgment of military writers General Grant's 
supreme effort to drive through the intrenched lines of the 
Confederates at Cold Harbor on the 3rd of June was the cost- 
liest and most sanguinary assault for the time of its continu- 
ance in the history of the war. 

"Here," says General Morgan, "the Second Corps re- 
ceived a mortal blow, and never again was the same body 
of men." Of this battle General Hancock said: "In an 
hour's assault, 3,024 men fell." "He might well speak of it," 
writes the historian of the 145th Pennsylvania, "as a loss 
without precedence. Indeed, since the army crossed the Rapi- 
dan, the losses of the Second Corps had been without 
precedent. Grant had used it as the hammer head with 
which he had pounded Lee for four weeks."* 

With the noble frankness which was ever characteristic 
of the man General Grant has left this testimony in his 
Memoirs: "I have always regretted that the last assault at 
Cold Harbor was ever made. No advantage whatever was 
gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained. In- 
deed the advantages other than those of relative losses were 
on the Confederate side." 

♦Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, Volume II, page 711. 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 217 



CHAPTER XVI. 

A SUMMER CAMPAIGN ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND. 

"O ! God of our fathers ! this banner must shine 
Where battle is hottest, in warfare divine! 
The cannon has thundered, the bugle has blown — 
We fear not the summons — we fight not alone ! 
O ! lead us, till wide from the gulf to the sea, 
The land shall be sacred to Freedom and Thee! 
With love for oppression ; with blessings for scars — 
One Country — One Banner — the Stripes and the Stars." 

Edna Dean Proctor. 

THE withdrawal of the army from its defensive works at 
Cold Harbor, in close proximity to the enemy, without 
confusion or loss, and its transfer to a new base of sup- 
plies and active operations, without opposition or detention, 
was one of the most masterly movements of the war. From 
Cold Harbor to Petersburg-, the objective point of the move- 
ment, was, by the route chosen, a distance of fully fifty miles, 
while to the Confederates the distance to be travelled was not 
more than thirty-four. 

By the former route two bridgeless rivers were to be 
crossed, one of which — the Chickahominy — had so overflowed 
its banks that it looked more like a lowland swamp than a 
river, and the other, the majestic James, was at the point of 
crossing, a tide-water stream a half mile in width. "So well 
had it been planned," says General Walker, "so prudently and 
so vigorously had its first stages been executed, that the Con- 
federates were not only outmarched but distinctly outgen- 
eraled." 

At 9 o'clock on the night of the 12th, Barlow's Division 
moved cautiously and silently by the left flank, under cover 
of the intrenchments, toward Barker's Mills. The night was 
clear and the moon was shining brightly; but the usually alert 



218 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

and agressive enemy in our front did not seem to realize that 
anything suggestive of a withdrawal of the army was actually 
taking place, and that, too, almost under their noses. In the 
same quiet manner the pickets were withdrawn after the main 
column had reached the rear, and was well on its way. War- 
ren's Corps which had started from a concealed position on the 
reserve line led the advance. The cavalry, which preceded it, 
forded the crossing of the Chickahominy and, driving the 
cavalry pickets before them, held the ground until a pontoon 
bridge was thrown across. By the morning of the 13th War- 
ren's Corps had effected a crossing at this point and held the 
roads leading to Richmond until the rest of the army had 
passed over. The Second Corps, with Barlow's Division in 
the lead, reached the Chickahominy about noon and at once 
crossed it on the pontoon bridge which Warren had con- 
structed, and used. Pushing on with brief halts for rest we 
reached Wilcox Landing in the vicinity of Charles City Court 
House, on the James River, about 9 o'clock at night. This 
long and tedious march of fully twenty-five miles, one-half of 
which was made after night, was cheerfully endured by the 
men who were only too glad to escape from the malarial 
swamps and ill-omened lowlands of the Chickahominy River. 
A fleet of transports, ferry boats from northern rivers, 
excursion steamers, with double and triple decks, and for- 
midable looking war vessels, dotted the broad expanse of the 
great river, and in one way or another aided in the crossing of 
the army. Soon after our arrival the Engineer Corps finished 
the construction of a pontoon bridge which required the 
anchorage of one hundred boats to complete the stretch from 
shore to shore. On the evening of the 14th the Second Corps 
commenced to cross the river. Some of the troops crossed on 
transports as soon as the boats were available, and others took 
the bridge, over which a continuous stream of infantry, artil- 
lery and heavy wagon trains was passing during the night. 
About daybreak on the morning of the 15th the entire com- 
mand with four batteries of artillery was safely landed on the 
south side of the James. The remaining portions of the 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 219 

wagon trains and artillery were ferried over in the early part 
of the forenoon. 

The other corps followed in the order indicated. By the 
close of the day the whole army, without the loss of a man 
or of any part of its equipment, was in position to advance 
toward its new objective, the City of Petersburg. 

The aggregate losses up to this day, which marks a new 
epoch in the history of the campaign, was 39,259. In con- 
nection with this estimate, which is given in the Memoirs of 
General Grant, the statement is made that "at the crossing of 
the James River, June 14th and 15th, the army numbered 
about 115,000. The aggregate of losses of the One Hundred 
and Fortieth during this period, as reported by Major Henry, 
was fifty-four killed and 118 wounded. The number missing 
does not seem to be included in this estimate. 

In the hope of receiving rations, which had been promised 
him on the south side of the river, General Hancock did not 
give the order to advance in the direction of Petersburg until 
half past ten. It appears also that through some misunder- 
standing, or failure to receive definite instructions, Hancock 
did not know that he was expected to support the Eighteenth 
Corps in an attack ordered on the works at Petersburg that 
morning, when as yet they were feebly manned, and hence 
did not push on with his accustomed vigor and decision. Re- 
ferring to his wait for rations, as ordered, General Grant says, 
"He (Hancock) then moved without them, and on the road 
received a note from General W. F. Smith, asking him to 
come on. This seems to be the first information that Hancock 
had received of the fact that he was to go to Petersburg, or 
that anything particular was expected of him. Otherwise he 
would have been there by four o'clock in the afternoon." An- 
other cause of delay was owing to a mistake in the order of 
march which involved, before it could be rectified, an in- 
crease of about five miles to the day's march. After a long 
stretch of about twenty-five miles, Barlow's Division, which 
was marching in the rear of the Corps, went into bivouac 
within supporting distance of General Smith, about midnight. 
The divisions which were in the lead arrived earlier in the 



220 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

evening, but not in time to take part in the assault on the 
works. While on the march we heard the long roll of mus- 
ketry punctured at intervals by discharges of artillery, but did 
not know until the next morning that General Smith had 
captured a part of the strongly intrenched Confederate lines, 
and that, had we been in position to follow it up that night, 
the City of Petersburg might easily have fallen into our hands. 
The assault, which carried with it the earnest of results so im- 
portant, was made at seven o'clock in the evening. The brunt 
of it fell upon the colored troops of this command who ad- 
vanced with splendid enthusiasm capturing five redans with 
their connecting rifle pits, covering a distance of about two 
and a half miles. Fifteen guns and about 300 prisoners were 
taken within these strongly constructed defences. As we ad- 
vanced the next morning over the ground on which this 
deadly conflict had raged, for about two hours, we found the 
dead bodies of a large number of the colored troops, who had 
fallen in the charge made upon the works. 

By this time Lee's army had appeared in force, con- 
structed a new line of works and the opportunity to take Peters- 
burg by surprise had passed. Under Hancock's direction an 
assault was made on the enemy's works on the morning of 
the 1 6th and with heavy loss, another redan was captured. 

Referring to the operations which followed on this day 
General Grant says : 

Meade came up in the afternoon and succeeded Han- 
cock, who had to be relieved, temporarily, from the com- 
mand of his corps on account of the breaking out afresh of 
the wound he had received at Gettysburg.* During the day 
Meade assaulted and carried one more redan to his right and 
two to his left. In all this we lost very heavily. The works 
were not strongly manned but they all had guns in them 
which fell into our hands; together with the men who were 
handling them in the effort to repel these assaults. 

*General Birney succeeded to the command of the Second Corps 
during General Hancock's stay in the hospital. 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 221 

The First Division, on the extreme left of the Corps, and 
Birney's Corps bore the brunt of these assaults, one of which 
Barlow led cap in hand. Describing the operations of this 
evening and the next day (June 17th) Major Henry says: 
"The fight lasted all night and our line was advanced, but at 
terrible cost. As at Cold Harbor, the intrenched picket line 
was so close to the pickets of the enemy that the men could 
hear their conversation, and the least exposure meant im- 
mediate death. Lieutenant Andrew M. Purdy, of Company F, 
rising up to give an order, was instantly killed. Later in the 
day another attack was made in which the Regiment partici- 
pated and the Corps carried the hill upon which Fort Stead- 
man was afterward built." 

During the night of the 17th the enemy fell back to an- 
other line which had been already selected and was to some 
extent fortified. On the morning of the 18th our troops oc- 
cupied the abandoned line of the enemy and prepared for a 
general assault which was delivered about noon. Meanwhile 
the Confederates had reinforced and greatly strengthened their 
interior line and the Union troops were repulsed at every point 
with terrible slaughter. On this day, which Walker char- 
acterizes as "one of the bloody days of the Army of the Poto- 
mac," Barlow's Division supported the attacking column and 
hence the losses were not so heavy in it as on some of the 
minor conflicts in which it was engaged. 

"The attack of Mott, from the Hare House," says the 
same writer, "was especially memorable on account of the 
heroic bearing and monstrous losses of the First Maine 
Heavy Artillery, which that General — determined to try 
what virtue there might be in the enthusiasm of a new, 
fresh strong regiment, not yet discouraged by repeated 
failures — had placed in his front line. The charge, sup- 
ported by the older regiments, was a most gallant one, 
though unsuccessful, the Maine men advancing over a space 
of three hundred and fifty yards swept by musketry, and 
only retiring after more than six hundred of their number 
had fallen, the heaviest loss sustained by any regiment of 
of the Union armies in any battle of the war." 



222 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

This was the last of a series of assaults upon intrenched 
positions, ofttimes repeated and persistenty made, from Spott- 
sylvania to Petersburg. So many of them had been costly 
victories or comparative failures, that the older troops were 
losing the enthusiasm which had carried them through the 
earlier conflicts : and the raw, undisciplined men who had 
taken the places of their former comrades could not be de- 
pended upon in such hours of emergency. 

Up to this date the losses in the several conflicts before 
Petersburg were nearly ten thousand. Preparations were now 
made for a regular siege and approaches which for the most 
part, were made under cover of strongly constructed earth- 
works. 

Before anything of importance was undertaken, however, 
the men were permitted to take a few days of much needed rest. 

In summing up the results of the several assaults on the 
lines before Petersburg, including the dates already mentioned, 
General Grant concludes with this statement : 

If General Hancock's orders of the 15th had been com- 
municated to him, that officer, with his usual promptness, 
would undoubtedly have been upon the ground around 
Petersburg as early as four o'clock in the afternoon of the 
15th. I do not think there is any doubt that Petersburg itself 
could have been carried without much loss: or, at least, if 
protected by inner detached works, that a line could have 
been established very much in rear of the one then occupied 
by the enemy. This would have given us control of the 
Weldon and South Side railroads. It would also have saved 
an immense amount of hard fighting which had to be done 
from the 15th to the 18th, and would have given us greatly 
the advantage in the long siege which ensued. 

Referring to the disposition of the troops, he says : 

"The Army of the Potomac was given the investment 
of Petersburg, while the Army of the James held Bermuda 
Hundred and all the ground we possessed north of the James 
River. The Ninth Corps, Burnside's, was placed upon the 
right at Petersburg; the Fifth, Warren's, next; the Second, 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 223 

Birney's next; then the Sixth, Wright's, broken off to the 
left and south. Thus began the siege of Petersburg.* 

Strictly speaking the Second and Sixth Corps were at this 
time in rear, and to the left, of the regularly fortified line. It 
was a position "in reserve" which meant that they were in place 
to extend their lines farther to the left or to go to the aid of 
any part of the line where their services might be required. 
As a matter of fact the Second Corps became the "shuttle com- 
mand" of this line of defenses, moving back and forth from 
left to right, and right to left, as the web of the Army's history 
was being woven, and always bringing up against the enemy 
in positions which, with scarcely an exception, had to be 
carried promptly by assault. 

The first of these movements was made on the 21st of 
June with a view to extending the intrenched line from the 
left of the Fifth Corps so as to threaten, if not destroy, the 
Confederate source of supplies by way of the Weldon Railroad. 

In this advance Barlow's Division which was on the left 
of the Corps pushed forward, driving the Confederate cavalry 
before them to a point west of the Jerusalem Plank Road, with- 
in two miles of the Weldon Road. During the night the Sixth 
Corps came up within supporting distance, in anticipation of 
a united forward movement on the morrow. 

Owing to an error in formation, a gap was left between 
the two advancing corps, on the 18th, which was noticed by 
the Confederate general, A. P. Hill, who was looking for 
an opportunity to turn the right flank of Wright's Corps. 
Thrusting a heavy column which he had at hand into this gap, 
Hill vigorously attacked a flanking brigade, which Barlow 
had thrown out on his left, forcing it to give way, and then, 
in rapid succession, struck the flanks of the other parts of 
the command, rolling them up and compelling them to fall 
back with a heavy loss. "Both corps recovered and re- 
formed," says Lossing, "and a fierce attack on the brigade of 

* Grant's Memoirs, pages 288-9. 



224 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

the ever-gallant General Miles, of the Second, was repulsed." 
Says General Walker: 

The whole affair was over in a very short time. Noth- 
ing but the extraordinary quickness and precision of the 
Confederate movements on this occasion would have made 
such a result possible. The Second Corps had been defeated 
almost without being engaged. There had been very little 
fighting and comparatively small loss, except in prisoners. 
Of these, the Second Corps had lost seventeen hundred; 
more than it had at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancel- 
lorsville combined. Four guns, moreover, the only ones 
ever taken from the Second Corps by the enemy, except 
that abandoned, disabled one on the banks of the Po, were 
the trophies of the Confederate triumph. The whole oper- 
ation had been like that of an expert mechanician who 
touches some critical point with a fine instrument, in ex- 
actly the right way, producing an effect seemingly out of 
proportion to the force exerted. The enemy's success was 
of course facilitated, if not indeed, made possible, by the 
thickets through which our troops were moving and by 
their own intimate knowledge of the ground. 

Our brave Colonel — John Fraser — who had been as- 
signed to the command of the Fourth Brigade, on the day 
preceding this engagement, resolutely held his ground in obe- 
dience to the order sent him by the Division commander, until 
most of his command had fallen back. It was then too late 
to escape, and he fell into the hands of the enemy. In the 
official report of this disastrous battle, made by his successor 
in command, Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. Glenning, Sixty-fourth 
N. Y. Vols., September 13th, we find the following record: 

The brigade was ordered to move toward the Weldon 
Railroad on the 21st, and in the evening formed line on the 
left of the Third Division and intrenched. On the 22d, ad- 
vanced a mile through a dense woods and, with the re- 
mainder of the division, was attacked and pressed back to 
the breastworks, losing a large number of prisoners, among 
them the gallant commandant, Colonel Fraser, One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers. 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 225 

After this disastrous engagement, which General Walker 
characterizes as the most humiliating episode in the experi- 
ence of the Second Corps down to that period, there was a 
lull in active operations in our front, and, for the first time 
in nearly two months of weary marching, of constant ex- 
posure to peril and privations and of excessive exertions, we 
were permitted to go into camp, pitch tents and deliberately 
prepared to make ourselves comfortable. 

Our position was directly behind the fortifications which 
fronted the Weldon Railroad. With a strong line of pickets 
in front and a strong line of defenses before us, which could 
be quickly occupied in case of need, we were comparatively 
secure against sudden attack. Farther to our right the troops 
of the Fifth and Ninth Corps occupied the line of forts, 
redans and bomb proofs which fronted the city of Petersburg. 
This portion of the line was defended with siege guns, Cohorn 
mortars and thickly planted batteries of artillery, with guns 
of varying size and caliber. When all these engines of de- 
struction were trained upon the enemy, as at times they were, 
the hillcrest on which they were placed seemed to be aflame 
with lightning-like flashes and the solid earth quaked with 
the horrid din of the quick and almost continuous discharges 
of mortars and siege guns and the bursting of their enormous 
shells. This racket, which usually began on the extreme 
right, came down the line in diminishing cadence to the left 
of the position then held by the Fifth Corps. It seldom 
amounted to much when it reached our front, and we soon 
learned to go to sleep, if not in the midst of it, a half hour or 
less after it has ceased. 

The summer of 1864 was notable for its intense heat 
and long-continued period of drought. From June 3d to the 
19th of July the heavens were as brass, and during that 
stretch of forty-seven days there was no sign of rain. Every 
movement of the troops was accompanied by suffocating clouds 
of finely pulverized dust, and it penetrated to every covered 
place and hidden nook in field or camp. Water could be 
obtained only by digging wells, and at every camping place 



226 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

it was necessary for each regiment to dig and care for its 
own well. 

Captain Henry, of Company F, commanded the Regi- 
ment at this time, and its present effective force was about 
150 enlisted men. It was sad and pitiful to see companies 
which once numbered more than a hundred men reduced to 
a little band of ten or twelve, while less than the original 
number of two of its companies rallied around a sadly tat- 
tered, powder-begrimed stand of colors. 

The withdrawal of the Sixth Corps from the left, under 
orders to hasten to the defence of Washington, made it nec- 
essary to contract the lines, and with a view to this the troops 
were ordered out of the works preparatory to leveling them 
to the ground. After this had been done all along our front, 
the Division was massed some two miles to the rear. On the 
evening of the 12th of July, the Brigade was sent out with 
Gregg's Cavalry on a reconnoissance. Some of the cavalry 
pickets of the enemy were found, but they fell back as the 
Union forces advanced. 

The Brigade returned to its starting point about midnight 
and the next morning moved with the corps to a position in 
rear of the Fifth and Ninth Corps. General Hancock having 
returned from the hospital, had resumed his command about 
the first of the month, and was now directing the movements 
of the Corps. On the afternoon of the 26th we broke camp, 
and, marching most of the night, reached Deep Bottom on 
the morning of the 27th. The James was crossed on a pon- 
toon bridge which had been constructed by General Butler. 
At daybreak Barlow's Division made an assault on the 
enemy's advanced works at Bailey's Creek driving the Confed- 
erates from the position they were holding and capturing a 
four-gun battery of 20-pound Parrotts. 

The whole line was engaged at times during the day, 
and the rapid concentration of the enemy on the north side, 
while it prevented a direct attack on the city of Richmond, 
accomplished the purpose Grant had in mind with respect to 
the impending assault in front of Petersburg. "Five-eighths 
of the hostile army," say Walker, "were now on the north 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 227 

bank, confronting Hancock and Sheridan, while, far away to 
the south, Burnside's Ninth, Ord's Eighteenth, and Warren's 
Fifth Corps, stood ready to enter Petersburg through the 
hideous avenue which might at any time be laid open by the 
explosion of Burnside's mine." With two divisions of his 
corps and Sheridan's Cavalry, Mott having been sent to rein- 
force the troops on the south side, Hancock stood off the 
attacks of the larger half of Lee's Army during the 28th and 
the day following when the situation became exceedingly 
perilous. Fortunately for that little command, no direct attack 
was made by the enemy on the 29th and at nightfall it was 
withdrawn to the south side of the James. The march was 
continued through the night and at daybreak, the head of 
the column reached Burnside's position in time to witness the 
terrific explosion of the mine which hurled a vast mass of 
earth and rock into the air, destroying the occupants of the 
fort and leaving in its stead an enormous rift in the ground 
thirty feet deep, sixty wide and one hundred and seventy long. 
For reasons, which need not be mentioned here, the attempt 
to break the enemy's intrenched line at this point was a disas- 
trous failure. Hancock had faithfully carried out his part of 
the program by making a successful diversion on the right of 
the line and was back again after an all-night march in time 
to support the column designated for the assault, but in con- 
sequence of blunders, hesitation and downright cowardice on 
the part of some of the responsible agents who were concerned 
in its execution, the precious moments of opportunity were 
allowed to pass and the victory anticipated, and which was 
actually in their grasp, was turned into a disastrous defeat. 

The Regiment, which had been left behind on picket duty 
when the Division was withdrawn, crossed the river on the 
morning of the 30th and rejoined the Brigade, which had con- 
tinued its march to its old camp, in the neighborhood of the 
Deserted House, in the early part of the afternoon. 

Major Henry's report, which covers the period designated 
as the Fifth Epoch, gives a summary of the operations and 
movements of the Regiment from its withdrawal to the south 



..s THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

side of the James until its return to the above mentioned 
reserve camp. 

rhe report is as Follows : 

KlbTH KIWI I. 
June [2th>30th, inclusive. 

On the night of the lath of June the Regiment quietly 
withdrew from the line of works at Cold Harbor and 
marched with the brigade to and across the Chickahominy 
River at Long Bridge. We continued the march that day, 

and halted in the evening at Wilcox Landing on the James 
River, where we threw up a light line of works. 

On the night of the 14th. moved with the brigade 
across the river and halted on the south side until noon 
tor the purpose of drawing rations. 

On the afternoon of the 15th the Regiment marched 
with the division in the direction of Petersburg, halting at 
midnight near the Friend House. Early in the morning 
of the 16th, moved with the brigade to the left oi the Eigh- 
teenth Corps, In the evening moved to the right, near the 
Friend House and supported the Third Brigade in a charge; 
drove the enemy into their works and threw up intrench- 
mentS within 200 yards of the enemy's lines. Remained 
here until the morning of the iSth. when we advanced and 
occupied the Confederate works, driving them from the 
Norfolk Railroad at a large brick culvert. We were re- 
lieved from duty on the picket line on the night of the 
toth and rejoined the brigade in the earthworks. Here we 
remained until the night of the Joth, when we were re- 
lieved by troops of the Ninth Corps. On the 21st moved 
with the brigade to the extreme left of the Line, near the 
Williams House. On the 22d, supported the Second and 
Third Brigades while engaged with the enemy. Went into 
camp near the Williams House on the 23d and remained 
in this position until the 10th of July, when we moved far- 
ther to the left on the Jerusalem Blank Road and relieved 
the pickets of the Sixth Corps. We remained on picket 

until the afternoon of the I2th, when the Regiment moved 
with the brigade and some cavalry toward the Wcldon 
Railroad, returning about midnight. 

On the morning of the 13th, marched with the brigade 
to, and encamped near, the Deserted House, where we re- 
mained, doing fatigue duty until the evening of the 26th, 
when we broke camp, inarched to and crossed the Appo- 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 220 

mattox. On the morning of the 27th we crossed the James 
River. Were ordered on picket duty and remained on the 
line until 9 A. M., when we rejoined the brigade. The 
Regiment also did picket duty near the New Market Road 
until the night of the 29th, when we were withdrawn. 
Crossing the James River on the morning of the 20th we 
rejoined the brigade about one o'clock in the afternoon, 
near the Friend House. 'J he Regiment lost in the oper- 
ations in front of Petersburg 1 commissioned officer and 
4 enlisted men killed and two commissioned officers and 
24 men wounded. Two enlisted men were missing. 

All of which is respectfully submitted, 

(Signed; Thomas IIknky, 
Major Commanding One Hundred and fortieth Regiment 

Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

From the 31st of July until the 12th of August, we re- 
mained in the old camp in the neighborhood of the Deserted 
f louse, when another attempt was made to surprise the enemy, 
and, if possible, to enter Richmond from the north side of 
the James River. Acting on the impression that Lee had been 
reinforcing Karly, who was then operating in the Shenandoah 
Valley, General Grant directed Hancock to take charge of a 
force consisting of the Second Corps, two Divisions of the 
Tenth Corps, under General Birney, and Gregg's Division of 
Cavalry to operate as circumstances might direct at Deep Bot- 
tom, on the extreme right of the Union line. Marching at 
noon on the 12th of August, the Corps bivouacked at City 
Point after a long and exhausting march through the ever- 
present dust and the intense heat. 

I fere we found a fleet of sixteen vessels awaiting us and 
at noon of the 13th we embarked, under the impression that 
we were about to follow the Sixth Corps to the North in 
pursuit of General Early. About sunset the vessels, crowded 
with troops and gaily bedecked with fluttering banners, swung 
out one after the other into midstream and, with music and 
song and hearty cheers — for all the bands were playing and all 
the troops were in exultant mood, — moved slowly and majes- 
tically down the river. 

A few hours after nightfall, our formidable fleet came to 



230 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

a dead stop and the vessels wove anchored. Somewhere about 
midnight an order was sent to the Captain of each ship to turn 
about and proceed under full head of steam to Deep Bottom. 

The order was promptly obeyed and at two o'clock in the 
morning we reached the dilapidated landing place at Deep 
Bottom, in the immediate vicinity of the battle ground of the 
previous month. This unexpected change in the program was 
a sore disappointment to the troops in general, who were quite 
as much misled by the movements of the fleet on the evening 
before as were the Confederates themselves. 

It was not theirs, however, to reason why. and the vision 
of northern fields and camps amid green pastures, was put 
awav as a dream of the night. Owing to imperfect facilities 
for disembarking, the attack on the enemy's lines which was 
arranged for daybreak was not made until after nine o'clock. 
By that time the Confederates had strongly reinforced this 
part of their line and the assault which was delivered at vari- 
ous points upon it, during the day was not successful. One 
of the chief discouragements of this day's battle was the in- 
tense heat of the sun. 

"The temperature of the day," says General Walker, 
"was something dreadful. The columns, moving out from 
the landing, literally passed between men lying on both sides, 
dead from sunstroke. Before noon General Mott reported 
to me that, in two small regiments of his division, one hun- 
dred and five men had been overcome by heat. The rays 
of the August sun smote the heads of the weary soldiers 
with blows as palpable as if they had been given with a 
club." 

On the morning of the 16th, Terry's Division of Birney's 
Corps, with a Brigade of Mott's Division and a Brigade of 
colored troops, carried the works in their front, capturing three 
hundred prisoners and three stand of colors, but soon after 
were driven out of them and compelled to retire. 

"In the meantime, Gregg, supported by Miles' 'fighting 
Brigade,' of Barlow's Division, had been operating on the 
Charles City Road, with the view of drawing the Confederates 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 231 

out of their intrenchments. He drove their van some distance, 
but he was soon driven back, and no special advantage to the 
Union cause was obtained."* 

In this engagement the Confederate Commander, General 
Chambliss was killed. The troops reached a point only seven 
miles from Richmond. 

On the 17th there was more or less of skirmishing at some 
points on the line, but everywhere the defensive works of the 
enemy seemed to be well manned. 

On the 1 8th, General Barlow, in consequence of the out- 
breaking of severe wounds received at Antietam and Gettys- 
burg, and of physical depression resulting therefrom, was 
obliged to relinquish his command of the Division and was 
succeeded by General Miles. This worthy successor to one of 
the most illustrious military leaders of the war, led the First 
Division from this date, with rare ability and a uniform meas- 
ure of success until its return, with the victorious Army of the 
Potomac, to Washington City. 

After spending two or three more days at Deep Bottom, 
with a view to holding a large part of the enemy in that posi- 
tion, to facilitate a flank movement on the left, Grant directed 
General Hancock to withdraw his command to the lines before 
Petersburg. The return march was made by way of Bermuda 
Hundred on the night of the 20th. It was a night of darkness 
and continuous rain and the troops plodded along through 
mud and pools of water, arriving at the camp they had left 
nine days before, by daylight of the 21st. 

Says Powelson of Company K : "It was a never-to-be- 
forgotten tramp; tramp all the night through darkness, rain 
and mud, awful and yet laughable, when men got lost, when 
hats, shoes, caps, etc., disappeared as the boys stumbled on in 
brush and darkness." 

In explanation of this demonstration north of the James, 
Grant says in his Memoirs, Vol. 88, page 321 : 

* Lossing's Civil War in America, page 354. 



232 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

To prevent reinforcements from being sent out from 
Richmond, I had to do something to compel Lee to retain 
his forces about his capital, I therefore gave order for 
another move to the north side of the James River, to 
threaten Richmond. A threatening position was main- 
tained for a number of days, with more or less skirmishing 
and some tolerably hard fighting, although it was my object 
and my instructions that anything like a battle should be 
avoided, unless opportunities should present themselves 
which would insure great success. There was no par- 
ticular victory gained on either side; but during that time 
no more reinforcements were sent to the valley. 

During the brief period of this demonstration north of 
the James River the One Hundred and Fortieth had three 
commanders. Captain Stockton, of Company K, who led it 
at the outset of the movement, became so ill from exposure, 
that he was obliged to go to the hospital on the morning of 
the 1 8th. Captain Pipes, of Company A, then assumed the 
command on the 20th and he in turn was succeeded by the 
ranking Captain (Major) Thomas Henry, of Company F. 

The following account of the movements in detail, of the 
Regiment from the morning of its debarkation at Deep Bottom 
was written by Lieutenant Hedge, of Company A, soon after 
the events it describes : 

It was still dark when we landed from the transports. 
As soon as daylight appeared our Regiment and the 
Twenty-sixth Michigan were deployed as skirmishers and 
ordered forward. After advancing through the woods about 
a mile, we found the Confederate skirmishers, whom we 
drove from their position after some hard fighting.* 

We fought and maneuvered around for about two days. 
One morning our Brigade was sent out on a reconnoissance 
in the direction of Richmond. The cavalry was in advance. 
After marching three or four miles we encountered a force 
of rebel cavalry, which gave way for a time. Presently 

* The One Hundred and Fortieth and the Twenty-sixth Mich- 
igan were so often sent out together on the skirmish line, that they 
were sometimes designated as the "Twin Skirmish Regiments" of 
the Brigade. 



ON THE son in SIDE OF RICHMOND 233 

our cavalry was checked and the Brigade was ordered tor- 
ward. Our Regiment and the Twenty-sixth Michigan were 
deployed as skirmishers and were ordered to advance. The 
Rebs were on a high piece of ground with a swamp in 
their front, through which we were obliged to k () - I'eyond 
it was a line of rifle pits, defended by a battery of ar- 
tillery. The Rebs held us in check for sonic time, but at 
length we charged and carried the rifle pits, taking a few 
prisoners. It was here that the Confederate General Cham- 
bliss was killed. J saw him fall. Our object having been 
accomplished, we marched back to Deep Bottom. 

During the continuance of this movement the Regimen! 
sustained a loss of one enlisted man killed, nine wounded and 
four captured or missing. 

While the Second Corps was holding its ground at Deep 
I tot torn, General Warren, after one or two desperate conflicts, 
in which he had met with heavy losses, succeeded in wresting 
the Weldon Railroad from the enemy's hands. Pending the 
attempt which the Confederates were sure to make to recover 
this important line of communication, Hancock was ordered 
to continue his march with two Divisions of his Corps from 
the old camp, in which he had tarried long enough to allow his 
men to make coffee and eat a hasty meal, to the Gurley House 
in the rear of the Fifth Corps. This position was reached 
late in the afternoon, and the men bivouacked for the nighl 
in a muddy field under a downpour of rain. Of this march, 
during which many fell out utterly exhausted, Hancock says: 

It was om- of the mosl fatiguing and difficult per- 
formed by the troops during the campaign, owing to the 
wretched condition of the roads. 

The next day the Regimenl assisted in tearing up several 
miles of the Weldon Railroad and on the 2/itli the hoops had 
destroyed the ties and rails of the track bed as far as Malone's 
Crossing, some three miles south of Reams Station. To facili- 
tate this work of destruction, large piles of ties were gathered 
at intervals and upon these wire [aid, or rather balanced, a 
number of rails. When the pile was fired the rails would 



834 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

droop down at either end, as the middle portions became 
heated to the melting point, and, in general, they were so 
warped and twisted that they could not be used again in the 
reconstruction of the road. In the beds of glowing coals which 
were left after this work of destruction, the troops "cooked 
coffee" and roasted the ears of Indian corn which they found 
in abundance as they pushed their way southward, without de- 
lay or molestation, to Malone Crossing. In the evening Miles' 
Division, which had been foremost in this work, returned to 
a line of intrenchments which were occupied by the rest of 
the Corps, at Reams Station. This position was twelve miles 
south of Petersburg and about four miles south of the left of 
Warren's intrenched line. 

During the night a large force of Confederate troops 
were reported to be on the move toward the left and for this 
reason the main body of the troops were held in position in 
the earthworks during the early part of the day. In the after- 
noon the Confederates suddenly appeared in front of the posi- 
tion held by General Miles, and, with the wild, weird yells, 
which had become so familiar to our ears, drove in the skir- 
mish line and boldly assaulted the line of works. This attack 
and another which followed soon after, were repulsed with 
heavy loss to the assailants. 

Meanwhile a number of Confederate sharpshooters, 
posted in the treetops and other hidden outlooks, directed their 
fire upon the batteries in the open with such extraordinary 
success that several gunners were picked off at their posts, 
and one hundred and thirty-four horses were killed or disabled. 

Later in the day the enemy received reinforcements, and, 
with a force now greatly in excess of Hancock's command. 
renewed the attacks at several points. Failing in these, a de- 
structive artillery fire was concentrated upon the right of the 
line and following it — about half past five o'clock — a double 
column of the enemy, under command of General Heth, 
emerged from the woods and made a furious charge upon 
that part of it which was held by General Miles. They were 
met by a withering fire a few rods beyond it, but rallying, they 
closed up their broken lines and renewed the assault. Unfor- 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 235 

tunately for the Union cause they struck a section in this 
advance which was held by conscripts and raw recruits who 
broke and fled in confusion, seeking shelter in a railroad cut 
a few rods to the rear. With wild yells and the consciousness 
of victory within their grasp, the Confederates swarmed into 
the gap which had thus been opened, pounced upon the bat- 
teries behind it, now left without support, and turned them upon 
the troops who were still at their posts, to the right and left. 
To abandon the line which was thus broken up was a necessity, 
but Hancock and Miles, with rare ability and splendid courage, 
rallied the men of the older regiments, on whom they had so 
often relied in emergencies, and prevented the retreat from 
becoming a disastrous rout. These men, knowing the impor- 
tance of standing together, rallied in squads and battalions, 
stubbornly contesting the ground and at length held a line 
some distance in the rear from which they could not be driven. 
The historian of the Second Corps has given a graphic 
description of the events immediately following the breaking 
of the intrenched line, from which we take the following quo- 
tations : 

The victorious Heth had yet to reckon with a few in- 
domitable spirits. Calling up a portion of his old regi- 
ment, the Sixty-first New York, which still remained firm, 
Miles threw it across the breastworks, at right angles, and 
commenced to fight his way back, leading the regiment in 
person. Only a few score of men — perhaps two hundred in 
all — stood by him; but with these he made ground, step by 
step, until he had retaken Dauchey's battery and had re- 
captured a considerable portion of the line, actually driv- 
ing the enemy into the railroad cut. Miles had by this time 
transferred the fighting to the outside of the intrenchments 
on the right, where he sought to take in flank and rear, 
the Confederates who had leaped the line at the northwest- 
ern angle, or were still coming up. As fast as his small 
party was dissipated, it was reinforced by little handfuls of 
men, personally collected by his own staff and by the ap- 
peals and exertions of General Hancock, who, galloping 
to the front, exposed himself far more conspicuously than 
any private soldier in his efforts to restore the fortunes of 
the day. His horse was shot under him; a ball cut his bridle 



236 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

rein in two; the corps flag, which always followed him 
closely, was pierced by five balls; another splintered the flag 
staff, and the brave and brilliant Brownson, Commissary of 
Musters, fell beside it mortally wounded. 

While these events were taking place in the immediate 
front, the enemy attacked the left of the line and a Brigade of 
Hampton's dismounted cavalry, passing around it, attempted 
to break through an attenuated line of Union cavalry directly 
in our rear. 

The writer, who was on detached service in the Adjutant- 
General's office of the Division at this time, was seated on a 
log at the temporary Headquarters, preparing a report, which 
had been ordered from the several brigades, when this fusillade 
broke out from the rear. With the line breaking up in our 
front and a force of the enemy of unknown strength directly 
in our rear, it seemed for a few moments as if we were all in a 
fair way to be escorted directly to Richmond. It was a position 
in which, for the time, there was no rear and no place which 
was not swept by artillery fire or musketry balls. Fortunately 
for all concerned, the brave boys of Gregg's Cavalry were 
equal to the occasion and thwarted all the persistent attempts 
of the enemy to penetrate into our left, or rear. 

After a brief pause on the second line, Hancock withdrew 
his command from its perilous position, assigning to General 
Miles the covering of his retreat. 

General Heth, apparently satisfied with the victory he had 
won, made no attempt to follow beyond the second line which 
Hancock had established. 

"It is not surprising," says General Morgan, Chief of 
the Corps Staff, "that General Hancock was deeply stirred 
b the situation, for it was the first time he had felt the bit- 
terness of defeat during the war. He had seen his troops 
fail in their attempts to carry the intrenched positions of the 
enemy, but he had never before had the mortification of 
seeing them driven and his lines and guns taken as on this 
occasion. . . . Riding up to one of his staff, in Werner's 
battery, covered with dust and begrimed with powder and 
smoke, he placed his hand upon the staff officer's shoulder 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 237 

and said: 'Colonel, I do not care to die, but I pray God I 
may never leave this field.' " 

As another has expressed it : 

The battle of Reams Station — the first and only dis- 
aster that ever befell the splendid Second Corps — was lost 
by the defection of a single regiment. 

In this engagement the Confederates claimed the capture 
of seven standards and nine cannon, but Grant, in his Memoirs, 
asserts that the actual loss, out of the batteries engaged, was 
only five guns. The fact should not be overlooked, however, 
that this apparent victory of the enemy did not give to them 
the control of the Weldon Road. 

It never went out of our possession from the 18th of 
August, when Warren's Corps seized it, to the close of the 
war, and all the supplies which formerly passed over it from 
the south, had to be carried in wagons for a distance of about 
thirty miles. 

At the opening of the Wilderness campaign the whole 
number of men reported as present for duty on the rolls of 
the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment was 490; at the 
date of the battle of Reams Station this number was reduced 
to 187. These figures include the men of the several com- 
panies present for duty on detached service also, and inasmuch 
as this number was unusually large in our Regiment, because 
of the fitness of its rank and file for special service, the actual 
number of those available for duty with the companies was 
always considerably less. It is not probable, therefore, that 
the number of those who were actually present with the com- 
panies exceeded 160 or possibly 150, the number that was 
given by the writer, in a letter to the home-folk, a short time 
before. At the battle of Reams Station the losses were not 
so heavy, as in other engagements in which it had a part, for 
the reason that its position was not so directly assailed as 
on some parts of the line on which the Brigade with which 
it was connected, was posted. 

The official report of the battle made by Colonel James 



238 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

C. Lynch, the Commander of the First Brigade, which we 
quote below, gives some interesting facts relating to the oper- 
ations of this fateful afternoon, and also throws light upon 
the nature of the service required of the One Hundred and 
Fortieth : 

In accordance with orders from General Miles, I di- 
rected Captain Henry, commanding the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Pennsylvania, to make a reconnoissance with his 
Regiment on a road running to the Jerusalem Plank Road, 
to a point on the Reams Station and Wood Shop Road, 
near the right of my line. Captain Henry moved out about 
three-fourths of a mile, meeting no enemy, and established 
his skirmish line across the road, his right connecting with 
the left of the picket line of the Division. He occupied this 
position during the afternoon, and did not rejoin the Brigade 
till after its withdrawal from Reams Station. 

The main portion of this brigade did not become engaged 
until 4 P. M., when the enemy, having made a successful 
assault on the works on my left, broke through and at- 
tacked my left and rear with vigor, causing considerable 
confusion, and for a few moments Knight's guns were in 
the hands of the enemy; but several colors having been 
halted, men were rallied around them without regard to 
organization, and by a prompt advance we recaptured three 
of the guns and nearly all of the rifle pits previously occu- 
pied by the Brigade. 

About this time I was directed by General Miles to 

move across the railroad and attack the enemy on his left 

flank, for which purpose I had a force of about 200 officers 

and men, in which nearly every regiment in the First and 

Second Divisions were represented. 

< 

On the evening of the 24th, the day preceding the above 
described engagement, Captain J. M. Pipes, of Company A, 
was placed in command of a detail which was sent out to the 
picket line. The left of this line rested on the Weldon Road, 
and the right was next to the cavalry.* Here the detail re- 
mained all night and until late in the afternoon of the next 
day. When the lines were broken up to the left it was moved 

*Condensed from records of Company A. 



ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RICHMOND 239 

back and out of the range of Pegram's battery, which had 
vigorously shelled a little gully or depression in which the 
command had taken temporary refuge. Soon afterward a 
staff officer, who was assisting in rallying the men, rode up 
and requested the Captain to throw his men into line and help 
to check the enemy in his attempt to flank this portion of the 
line. Acting promptly upon this request, Captain Pipes de- 
ployed his men and moved rapidly across the field toward the 
rear. Here the men of his command availed themselves of 
the protection of rocks and stumps within reach, and opened 
fire on the enemy, who were trying desperately at this time, 
to break through the left flank and rear. Later in the even- 
ing when the conflict was almost over, Captain Pipes was 
struck by a musket ball which shattered his right arm and 
lodged in his side. With the aid of two comrades he walked 
back to the rear and at length came up with his Regiment, 
and, with his little command, fell in with it. 

As soon as possible thereafter his wounds were bandaged 
and he was sent to City Point, ten miles distant, in an ambu- 
lance. For distinguished gallantry at Gettysburg, July 2, 
1863, and in this battle, where he merited special recognition 
for his timely and efficient aid in a critical moment, and where 
he lost his good right arm, Captain Pipes was awarded a 
Congressional Medal of Honor. 

A short time before General Heth's successful assault on 
our front, Colonel Beaver, of the One Hundred and Forty- 
eighth Pennsylvania, was brought up in an ambulance, and 
being the ranking officer, took command of the Fourth Bri- 
gade. A few moments later, while watching the movements 
of the men on the skirmish line, the Colonel was struck by a 
ball which shattered his right leg and he was taken back to 
the rear in the ambulance which had brought him to the front. 

After watching the skillful work of Dr. Wishart, the 
greatly beloved Surgeon of the One Hundred and Fortieth, 
in amputating Colonel Beaver's leg, Captain Pipes took the 
table and suffered the loss of his right arm, which was ampu- 
tated at the shoulder. 

Reams Station was the last of the series of battles and 



240 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

flanking expeditions in which the First Division was actively 
engaged during the memorable summer campaign of 1864. 
Returning from this position on the extreme left of the line, 
we occupied a portion of the reserve line near the Williams 
House. From this date until the 24th of September, the 
troops were engaged, for the most part, in strengthening the 
works in their immediate front. After nightfall on the 24th 
of September, the First and Second Divisions relieved the 
Tenth Corps in the main line and on the fifth of October, the 
First Division was transferred to the line of works in front 
of Petersburg extending from Fort Morton to the river, with 
reserves in rear of Forts Haskill and Sullivan. From the 
Headquarters of the Division which was within the range of 
thirty Confederate Parrott guns, a considerable part of the 
Union and Confederate lines could be seen, and at the nearest 
points a stone could be thrown from one line into the other. 

During the Boydtown Plank Road Expedition — October 
26-28 — in which the Second and Third Divisions took part, 
the Division of General Miles covered a stretch in the trenches 
of about three and a half miles in length. Not content with 
this responsibility he sought to aid his associates on the left 
by sending a storming column against a small fort near the 
crater on the night of the 27th of October which was taken 
and held for a short time. This and a similar movement 
directed against the enemy skirmish line was intended as a 
diversion and was not followed up. 

After the return of the other Divisions from the expedi- 
tion to Boydtown Plank Road the First Division was relieved 
from duty on this part of the line, and, for some time there- 
after, remained in reserve. 



WINTER QUARTERS IN THE TRENCHES 241 



CHAPTER XVII. 

WINTER QUARTERS IN AND ABOUT THE TRENCHES. 

Let war be so carried on that no other object may 
seem to be sought, but the acquisition of Peace. — Cicero. 

WITH the exception of the expedition to the Boydtown 
Plank Road, in which General Miles' Division had no 
part, the Second Corps spent the autumn months in 
comparative quiet in the trenches, or directly behind the line 
of forts. Instead of the usual routine of drill and parade the 
men were employed in handling the pick and shovel, and the 
works, which were thus constructed from day to day, were 
marvels of engineering skill, and at some points almost im- 
pregnable to attack by direct assault. 

Every precaution was taken also to safeguard their de- 
fenders from the merciless fire of sharpshooters, within easy 
range, or the deliberately aimed siege guns and cohorn mor- 
tars. In the construction of a new line, heavy timbers were 
used to build up and strengthen the earthworks. At intervals 
all along the main line, forts of varying strength and resistive 
power were built and garrisoned. 

As a rule, the trenching was done after nightfall and 
details from the several Regiments, which were usually bivou- 
acked in some sheltered spot in the rear during the daytime, 
would go out and work all night in the trenches. Where the 
trenches on the main line were exposed, by reason of their 
direction or unfavorable location, to artillery fire, they were 
protected by a roof of timber over which was thrown a thick 
covering of earth. These were known as bomb proofs and 
access to them was made secure by zigzag covered ways from 
points not so much exposed in the rear or second line. In 
some places these covered ways were wide enough and deep 
enough to admit the passage of ammunition and supply wagons. 



77//: ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Flie picket posts in front oi the main line were burrows in 
the ground large enough to shelter two or three men. The 
earth which was scooped out for this purpose was banked up 
on the side next the enemy and a narrow slit or embrasure 
between two logs, or some similarly guarded outlook, served 
as a loophole through which to take observations or direct a 
deliberate and deadly tire upon any portion of the human 
frame which for an instant might be exposed to view on the 
side opposite. 

It was not an uncommon thing for a Union or Confed- 
erate sentry to test the accuracy of his opponent's fire by plac- 
ing a tin can on top of the embrasure or elevating his cap a 
little above it. So deadly was this sort of target practice at 
short range that, in a little while, by tacit consent rather than 
by formal agreement, the pickets on both sides ceased to the 
at each other in the daytime and often saluted or conversed 
together like comrades or old friends. This unwritten law 
did not apply, however, at night when constant vigilance was 
necessary to guard against surprise. Hence for months there 
was not one night perhaps, during which one could not hear, 
when wakeful, the popping of musketry or the discharges, at 
times, of artillery. Communication with the picket posts was 
also had through zigzags or covered ways, and in front of 
these posts for a considerable distance, there was a protection 
of slashed timber, deep ditches or chcz'ait.r-clc-frise. 

The One Hundred and Fortieth did its full share of the 
construction work we have described during the autumn and 
winter months, but from the 24th of September until the 1st 
of November, it shared with the Division the privilege — if 
privilege it may be called — of dwelling in fortifications and 
bomb proofs made ready to hand, where the lines were the 
closest to the position of the enemy, and garrison duty was 
the most exacting. This part of the line, as already noted, 
extended from Fort Morton directly opposite the city of Pet- 
ersburg, to the Appomattox River. It included Forts Haskell 
and Steadman, which was afterward in the hands of the enemy 
for a short time, and Fort McGilvary on the right of the line. 




PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 



WINTER QUARTERS IN THE TRENCHES 243 

Almost directly opposite Fort Morton, the left of the line held 
by the Division, was the crater of the exploded mine. 

On the 17th of October, while the Regiment was in this 
position, President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, accom- 
panied by General Grant and other officers of high rank, rode 
along the lines and were accorded a hearty greeting by the 
troops who, with the exception of those needed for garrison 
duty in the trenches, were assembled in rear of the works. 
The President wore a high silk hat and a frock coat, and, as 
one has put it, "had the appearance of a country farmer rid- 
ing into town, wearing his Sunday clothes." But his ungainly 
appearance, alongside of Grant, and other accomplished horse- 
men, detracted nothing from the royal welcome he received : 
and when his wan, careworn face was lit up with a smile 
which the cheers and shouts of the men in blue had evoked, 
they saw only the great and good man who loved them all 
with the devotion of an indulgent father and who, for the 
sake of the imperiled Nation, was giving sleepless nights and 
days of unremitting toil in the interest of the cause which they 
had espoused. In the rear of one of the breaks of the line 
was a motley group of recently freed slaves who for a long 
time before the President's appearance had been waiting on 
tip-toe to see him pass by. When the cheers of the troops 
announced his progress down the line, their enthusiasm could 
not be restrained. Some in kneeling posture and others with 
outstretched arms, or waving turbans, shouted aloud their 
exclamations of gratitude and heartfelt praise — "God bless 
de good Marse Lincom; De Lord save Marse Lincom; De 
Lord bless good Fader Abraham. Glory, Hallelujah, de yeah 
of Jubilee hav suah come." 

It was worth a lifetime of detraction and abuse and 
unappreciated labors to have, so near its close, such a tribute 
of honor and affection from the honest hearts of the represen- 
tatives of a race from which, under God, he had stricken the 
fetters of irksome bondage and crass ignorance. 

On the first day of November our Division was relieved 
from duty in the trenches and went into camp about a mile to 
the rear, in a sheltered, and comparatively safe location. 



244 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Under the impression that this was to be a winter camp, — 
the officers sharing this impression with the men, — huts and 
chimneys were being erected and for five days this agreeable 
delusion was cherished. Then, in a most unexpected moment, 
an order came to move back to the line of fortifications we had 
been holding. The men did not go into the works, however, 
but were massed behind them in reserve. 

On the day of the general election, November 8th, the 
polls were opened in each Regiment and those who were en- 
titled to the privilege, cast their ballots for the presidential 
candidate of their choice. The polling place of the One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth was in a bomb-proof and most of the votes 
cast in the several Regiments were in the forts or trenches. 

The official report of the votes cast in General Miles' 
Division is as follows :* 

Headquarters Second Army Corps, 
November 8, 1854. 
Genl. Geo. G. Meade: 

The following is the result of to-day's election in the 
First Division of this Corps: 

81st Pa. Vols Lincoln 23 McClellan.. 



140 th 
183d 

53d 
145th 
148th 
1 1 6th 

26th Mich. Vols. 
5th New Hamp 



147 

53 
118 

78 
127 

54 
122 

26 



44 

55 

47 

75 
21 

72 

58 
28 

29 



753 429 

Majority for Lincoln 324 

(Sgd.) Winfield S. Hancock, 

Major-General. 

The following communication taken from the above men- 
tioned volume, page 684, is interesting, as a matter of record, 
and gives incidentally a deserved tribute of appreciation to 



* Rebellion Records, Vol. 42, Series 1, page 561. 



WINTER QUARTERS IN THE TRENCHES 245 

Colonel Fraser, who was then held as a prisoner under fire of 
the Union batteries at Charleston, South Carolina : 

Headquarters First Division, Second Army Corps, 

November 22, 1864. 
Major Septimus Carncross, 

Assistant Adjutant-General Second A. C. 
Major: — I have the honor to request that efforts be 
made to effect the exchange of the following-named officers 
of this Division: 

Col. John Fraser, One Hundred and Fortieth Pa. Vols., 
a very valuable officer, captured June 22, 1864, while in 
command of the Fourth Brigade, and now confined at 
Charleston, S. C. ; also 

Capt. John S. McEwan, Seventh N. Y. Vol. Artillery 

and Judge Advocate of this Division, captured at Deep 

Bottom, July 28, 1864, released on parole and now at Albany, 

N. Y., a good officer and much needed at the present time. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

(Sgd.) Nelson A. Miles, 
Brigadier-General of Vols., commanding. 

On Thanksgiving- Day, November 24th, an abundant sup- 
ply of good things was sent to the troops for general dis- 
tribution from all parts of the North. When the mess at the 
Headquarters of the Division, numbering eleven all told, re- 
ceived a notification that a box was at the Commissary Depart- 
ment which had been assigned to them, no time was lost in 
sending a delegation to secure it. To our great surprise it 
was a large store box, which, when opened, was found to con- 
tain six turkeys, a boiled ham, four cans of peaches and the 
same number of stewed green corn; about two bushels of 
apples, cakes galore, and several fine clusters of fresh Catawba 
grapes. This superabundant store of dainties was the gift 
of a little band of "loyal supporters of the flag, and warm 
friends of the men at the front," from Jersey City, N. J. 
Like all the rest it was sent, without reference to State or 
local limitations, for distribution to the enlisted men of the 
army and navy. Suffice it to say that every mess in the Army 
of the Potomac had a feast of good things, similar to our own, 
from a supply that seemed to be inexhaustible. 



246 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

On the 26th of November, General Hancock resigned the 
command of the Second Corps in order to undertake the or- 
ganization of a new corps to be composed entirely of veteran 
soldiers. 

His farewell order is worthy of preservation and we give 
it place without condensation or abbreviation : 

Headquarters Second Army Corps, 
Before Petersburg, November 26, 1864. 

General Orders, No. 41. 
Soldiers of the Second Corps: 

Being about to avail myself of a brief leave of .ab- 
sence, previous to entering upon another field of duty, in 
accordance with instructions, I transfer the command of this 
Corps to Major-General A. A. Humphreys, U. S. Vols. 

I desire at parting with you to express the regret I feel 
at the necessity which calls for our separation. 

Intimately associated with you in the dangers, priva- 
tions and glory which has fallen to your lot during the 
memorable campaigns of the past two years, I now leave 
you with the warmest feelings of affection and esteem. 

Since I have had the honor to serve with you, you have 
won the right to place upon your banners the historic 
names of 

"ANTIETAM," "FREDERICKSBURG," "CHANCEL- 

LORSVILLE," "GETTYSBURG," "WILDERNESS," 

"PO," "SPOTTSYLVANIA," "NORTH ANNA," 

"COLD HARBOR," PETERSBURG," 

"REAMS STATION," "BOYD- 

TOWN ROAD," 

and many other contests. 

The gallant bearing of the intrepid officers and men 
of the Second Corps on the bloodiest fields of the war, the 
dauntless valor displayed by them in many brilliant assaults 
on the enemy's strongest positions, the great number of 
guns, colors, prisoners and other trophies of war captured 
by them in many desperate combats, their unswerving devo- 
tion to duty and heroic constancy under all the dangers and 
hardships which such campaigns entail, have won for them 
an imperishable renown and the grateful admiration of their 
countrymen. The story of the Second Corps will live in 
history, and to its officers and men will be ascribed the 



WINTER QUARTERS IN THE TRENCHES 247 

honor of having served their country with unsurpassed fidel- 
ity and courage. 

Conscious that whatever military honor has fallen to me 
during my association with the Second Corps has been won 
by the gallantry of the officers and soldiers I have com- 
manded, I feel that in parting from them I am severing 
the strongest ties of my military life. 

The distinguished officer who succeeds me is entitled 
to your entire confidence. His record assures you that in 
the hour of battle he will lead you to victory. 

(Sgd.) Winf'd S. Hancock, 

Major-General Vols. 

While the survivors of the Second Corps will ever cherish 
with pride and affection the memory of their great leader, the 
peerless Hancock, they will also remember with a like affection 
in kind, if not in degree, his noble and high-toned successor, 
General A. A. Humphreys, who led them to the final victory 
of the war at Appomattox. 

On the 29th of November, the Second Corps was relieved 
from duty on the line in front of Petersburg by the Ninth, 
and at midnight we broke camp and marched to the extreme 
left of the line, near Fort Welch. Here the Regiment was 
permitted to build huts for winter quarters when not at work 
on the fortifications, which were being constructed with great 
care for the purpose of strengthening our exposed position. 
There was but little firing along this part of the line, and we 
could see the tents of the Confederate Army within easy range 
of several of the Union batteries. The last movement of the 
year was a reconnoissance on the Vaughan Road across 
Hatcher's Run to Armstrong's Mill on the ninth of December. 
In this the Division as a whole took part, but the One Hundred 
and Fortieth, being in front as skirmishers, lost heavily in 
proportion to the numbers engaged. 

In the official report of Brigadier-General George N. 
Macy, Twentieth Massachusetts Infantry, commanding First 
Brigade, dated December 12th, 1864, reference is made to 
the part taken by the One Hundred and Fortieth in this ad- 
vance as follows :* 

♦Rebellion Records, Series 1, Vol. 42, part 1, page 263. 



248 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Major: — I respectfully submit a report of the part 
taken by my command in the late reconnoissance across 

Hatcher's Run Ford; 

******* 

I would express great satisfaction with my entire com- 
mand. The skirmishing was done by the One Hundred 
and Fortieth Pa. Vols., Captain Stockton commanding, in 
a gallant manner and with large loss, considering the num- 
ber engaged. 

To Maj. W. R. Driver, 

Assistant Adjutant-General First Division. 

With this we give a very modest report of the same expe- 
dition by Captain Stockton, under date of December ioth:f 

Captain McCallister, A. A. G. First Brigade. 

Captain: — In compliance with orders just received, I 
have the honor to submit the following report: 

On the morning of the 9th inst. our Regiment took up 
the line of march with the rest of the Brigade, and moved 
in the direction of Hatcher's Run. 

While on the Vaughan Road we were ordered to deploy 
as skirmishers, with our center resting on the aforesaid 
road, and to advance until we came up with the cavalary 
videttes, and then to aid them, if possible, beyond the creek. 

The officers and men, as usual, complied strictly to 
given orders, and conducted themselves with gallantry and 
great credit to themselves and the common cause. 

(Sgd) W. A. Stockton, 
Captain Commanding Regiment. 

On the morning of the 10th the Division was ordered to 
withdraw and returned to the camp in good order despite the 
persistent annoyances of the enemy who followed them closely 
for a part of the way. 

Major Henry gives the losses as 2 killed and 8 wounded. 
Elsewhere he makes mention of 4 killed, which may mean that 
two afterwards died of wounds received in this engagement. 

The captures in turn of Atlanta, Savannah, Fort Fisher, 
Charleston and Wilmington were announced to the enemy, 

fVol. 42, part 1, page 275. 



WINTER QUARTERS IN THE TRENCHES 249 

by order of General Grant, with a salute of 100 shotted guns, 
which, at a given signal, broke forth suddenly in the stillness 
and darkness of the night. The roar of the guns, to which the 
enemy vigorously responded, the outbursts of flame, darting 
from the muzzles of siege and rifled guns, the curving flight 
of the fiery missiles rising from the mortars embedded in the 
places here and there on the line, the bursting of bombs and 
shells, mingled at intervals in the horrid din with the stirring 
strains of scores of army bands, and the cheers of the men in 
the trenches made a most impressive celebration, for a purpose, 
of the resistless might and ultimate triumph of the Union 
arms. 

From the beginning of the siege of Petersburg there were 
many^deserters from the Confederate Army to the Union lines. 
After the election of Abraham Lincoln the number rapidly 
increased, and every new victory of the Union arms thereafter 
tended to increase the demoralization of the discouraged host 
which was disintegrating, without the possibility of recovering 
their lost ground or lost numbers, day by day. "Every night," 
says General Miles, "during the winter of 1864 and 1865, 
there were received along the line of intrenchments before 
Petersburg and Richmond, numbers of men who crept through 
their picket lines, dropped their arms, and came to us as indi- 
viduals or in squads, amounting in the aggregate to thou- 
sands." In his Memoirs, General Grant gives it as his opinion 
that the Confederates, at this time, "were losing at least a 
regiment a day, taking it throughout the entire army, by 
desertions alone," or as Mr. Nicolay has expressed it, "Deser- 
tion grew too common to punish." After the fall of Fort Fisher 
was announced, seventeen deserters sought refuge in front of 
our Division, and the next night sixteen more came in. When 
General Gordon, one of the frankest and most fairminded of 
the Confederate writers, affirms that amid all their discourage- 
ments, "desertions were exceedingly rare," we are inclined to 
believe that this may have been true of his command, owing 
perhaps, to his own intense loyalty to the Confederacy, and 
personal winsomeness, but it certainly could not have been 
true of the army in general which he represented. 



250 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



s 



An interesting item of evidence to the contrary, from our 
viewpoint, is given by the historian of the Sixty-third Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers : 

Deserters came in along our front every evening and 
reported short rations and consequent dissatisfaction among 
the enlisted men. Finnegan's Brigade of Mahone's Division, 
composed principally of Florida troops, occupied the rebel 
works in our immediate front, and the Finnegan boys and 
the Kearney veterans had become very well acquainted 
during the numerous truces they had voluntarily made. So 
many deserters now came in every night from the Florida 
command that they became a source of considerable an- 
noyance to the staff officers at brigade headquarters, who 
were awakened at all hours of the night to receive them. 

One of the officers, in a spirit of fun, sent a polite note 
one evening to General Finnegan, requesting him to "come 
over and take command of his Brigade, most of which was 
apparently on our side of the intrenchments, or, if not con- 
venient to come personally, to have his details report 
promptly before nine o'clock P. M. 

The short rations, which, without doubt, contributed to 
the ultimate defeat and surrender of Lee's Army, resulted not 
so much from impoverishment of the country, for afterwards 
we found communities where pantries and storehouses were 
well filled, but from the tightening and strengthening of the 
cordon, which Grant had been slowly drawing around the cities 
of Petersburg and Richmond. 

During the months of January and February, and up to 
the twentieth of March, but little was attempted except to ex- 
tend our lines to the left, as opportunity afforded, and then 
to strengthen them, as thus extended. At one time, about the 
middle of February, one of these movements was ordered 
which made it necessary to abandon our cosy winter quarters 
and the troops were obliged to build a line of strong intrench- 
ments before they could put up any huts to shelter them from 
the snowstorms and the piercing cold winds which prevailed for 
several days. As a result of these movements our lines were 
extended without serious opposition to Hatcher's Run, five 
miles beyond the left of the position which we had regarded as 



WINTER QUARTERS IN THE TRENCHES 251 

the extreme outpost of the army, in that direction, some three 
months before. 

Thus the way was prepared for the great flank movement 
which was to put an end to the siege of Petersburg, within 
the space of five days and in as many more, to force the sur- 
render of the hitherto invincible Army of Northern Virginia. 



252 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1865. THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be 
enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not 
break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, 
stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every 
living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will 
yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, 
as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. — 
Abraham Lincoln. 

THE campaign of 1865 was short, sharp, and almost im- 
mediately decisive. The preparation hour was long 
and the outlook at times discouraging, but the crisis 
hour was in its results like the breaking forth of the long pent 
up waters of a mighty stream. At the beginning of the cam- 
paign on the south side of Richmond, Grant made strenuous 
efforts to drive the army of Lee from its position at Peters- 
burg. Failing in this he accepted the situation, as it was, and 
made preparation for a winter siege and an extension of his 
lines, especially to the left, with the double purpose of cutting 
off the supplies of the Confederate army and of holding it 
intact, or at least the greater part of it, in his front until the 
co-operating armies of Sherman and Thomas in the South, 
and Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, had accomplished the 
tasks which had been assigned to them. As the winter season 
wore away his chief concern was to prevent General Lee from 
abandoning the intrenchments, from which, a few months be- 
fore, he had sought to drive him. 

Meanwhile the effective force of the Army of the Poto- 
mac had been increased by the return of the men who had been 
disabled by wounds or sickness as well as greatly improved 
in efficiency by daily drills, inspections and reviews, except 
when the inclemency of the weather prevented. Hence when 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END 253 

marching orders came the Second Corps was ready to go forth 
with its old-time enthusiasm and invincible courage. 

The organization of the Second Corps, in so far as we 
were directly concerned, at the opening of the campaign of 
1865, was as follows: 

Major-General A. A. Humphreys Commanding Corps 

Brevet Major-General Nelson A. Miles, 

Commanding First Division 

Colonel George W. Scott Commanding First Brigade 

Captain W. A. F. Stockton, 

Commanding One Hundred and Fortieth Pa. Vols. 

The most reliable estimate of the relative strength of the 
two armies, upon the resumption of active operations in the 
spring of 1865, is given by General Humphreys as follows : 

Armies of the Potomac and of the James under General 
Grant, 101,000 infantry; 9,000 artillery, with 369 guns; cav- 
alry, 14,700. Aggregate of all arms, 124,700. Army of 
Northern Virginia under General Lee, 46,000 infantry; 5,000 
artillery; cavalry, 6,000. Aggregate of all arms, 57,000.* 

Wih this notable disparity in numbers there seemed to be 
but little hope of success to the Confederate cause at the open- 
ing of this campaign, except when its defenders were sheltered 
behind formidable breastworks : and, with the certainty of being 
outreached and outflanked when the roads would admit of a 
general movement, this advantage could not be reckoned 
among the probabilities, when the clash of arms should again 
be resumed. 

Weary of the long continued strife and bloodshed and 
of the failure of every effort to secure a lasting and honorable 
peace, the commander of the Union armies, with the pledged 
strength, sympathy and resources of the Nation behind him, 
was determined to avail himself of every legitimate advantage 
which would tend to bring the war to a speedy close. On the 
24th of March he issued orders to his army commanders, 

* Other estimates, based on more recent research, give the 
aggregate as near 65,000. 



254 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Meade, Ord and Sheridan, each of whom had a separate com- 
mand, to be prepared for a general movement against the 
enemy on the 29th. 

With the hope of thwarting this anticipated movement, 
or possibly of delaying it until he could withdraw success- 
fully from Petersburg, General Lee ordered Gordon, one 
of the ablest and most daring of his generals to assault 
Fort Steadman, a noted stronghold of the Union line. After 
more than a week of planning and preparation this assault 
was delivered before daybreak on the morning of the 25th. 
The garrison, taken completely by surprise, made no effective 
resistance and the assailants, numbering more than 20,000 
men, took possession of the fort and a considerable portion 
of the adjacent line of rifle pits.* It was a well-planned and 
admirably executed sortie, but it was a shortlived triumph 
for the reserve forces in the vicinity were quickly brought into 
action and, under the lead of General Hartranft recaptured 
the fort and its belongings, inflicting a heavy loss upon the 
enemy and taking about 2,000 prisoners. This disastrous as- 
sault, says General Walker, took nearly 4,000 men from Lee's 
weakened army, only making the fatal result more certain. 

In his description of this assault General Gordon gives a 
fine illustration of the spirit of genuine chivalry and of good- 
natured regard which ofttimes characterized the dealings of 
the rank and file of both armies, in their relations to each other, 
when not engaged in actual strife. 

After describing the manner in which the obstructions in 
his own front were removed to give rapid exit to his men, he 
says: 

The noise made by this removal, though slight, attracted 
the attention of a Union picket who stood on guard only a 
few rods from me, and he called out: 

♦The statement is made on good authority that when Gordon's 
skirmishers silently stole through the darkness they were mistaken 
for an unusually large number of deserters, this being a favorite 
point for deserters to pass into the Union lines. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END 255 

"What are you doing over there, Johnny? What is 
that noise? Answer quick or I'll shoot." 

The pickets of the two armies were so close together 
at this point that there was an understanding between them, 
expressed or implied, that they would not shoot each other 
down except when necessary. The call of this Union picket 
filled me with apprehension. I expected him to fire and 
start the entire picket-line to firing, thus giving the alarm 
to the fort, the capture of which depended largely upon 
the secrecy of my movement. The quick mother-wit of the 
private soidier at my side came to my relief. In an instant 
he replied : 

"Never mind, Yank. Lie down and go to sleep. We 
are just gathering a little corn. You know rations are 
mighty short over here." 

There was a narrow strip of corn which the bullets 
had not shot away still standing between the lines. The 
Union pickets promptly answered: "All right, Johnny; go 
ahead and get your corn. I'll not shoot at you while you 
are drawing your rations." 

While this fraternal dialogue was progressing between 
the two sentries, the last of the obstructions were removed, 
and I ordered the private to fire the signal for the assault. 
He pointed his rifle upward, with his finger on the trigger, 
but hesitated. His conscience seemed to get hold of him. 
He evidently felt that it was hardly fair to take advantage 
of the generosity and soldierly sympathy of his foe, who had 
so magnanimously assured him that he would not be shot 
while drawing his rations from the little field of corn. His 
hesitation surprised me, and I again ordered: "Fire your 
gun, sir." He at once called to his kind-hearted foe and 
said: "Hello, Yank! Wake up we are going to shell the 
woods. Look out, we are coming." And with this effort 
to satisfy his conscience and even up accounts with the 
Yankee picket, he fired the shot and rushed forward in the 
darkness." 

It is not strange that the men of whom these private 
soldiers were the representatives, should cordially fraternize 
together, a few days later, when the long-continued strife 
should be over, or that they should continue to cherish this 
spirit of brotherhood and comradeship so long as life, and 
opportunity to greet each other should be given them. 



256 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

This diversion on the part of the enemy did not materially 
change the prearranged plan of General Grant, for the army as 
a whole broke camp on the 29th, the day appointed : but it did 
make some change in the disposition of the troops on our part 
of the line, and brought on a series of sharp engagements 
which resulted in the breaking up of the Confederate line of 
works, from end to end, a few days later. 

When the men of the One Hundred and Fortieth were 
rudely awakened from their slumbers at four o'clock on the 
morning of the 25th, by the crash of volleys of musketry and 
the roar of artillery, it seemed as if a great disaster was im- 
minent. Staff officers and orderlies were hurrying back and 
forth with looks that betokened surprise and consternation, 
and everywhere the troops were massing in rear of the works 
or forming into line. The extent of the disaster was soon 
reported from division headquarters and we waited in our 
place for further developments. Soon the roar of battle was 
renewed on the right and the hearty cheers which came down 
the line from that quarter were the first intimations of the re- 
versal of the disastrous assault of the early morning. 

In order to test the strength of the enemy on the left of 
the line an advance was ordered along the entire front of the 
Sixth and Second Corps. This advance was stubbornly dis- 
puted, but at length the strongly intrenched picket line of the 
Confederates was taken and utilized as a line of defence. 

About four o'clock in the afternoon, the Confederates 
came out of their intrenchments and attempted to retake it, 
but were beaten back with heavy loss. After sunset another 
persistent assault was made by a heavily reinforced column. 
They came out in good order and, as the bugle sounded the 
charge, rushed forward yelling like demons, but were firmly 
met by the men of the First Division and repulsed. 

In this series of engagements Captain John F. Wilson, of 
Company G, one of the bravest and most highly esteemed 
officers of the Regiment was mortally wounded. 

James S. McGlumphey of the same company was also 
seriously wounded. Sergeant Graham, of Company K, was 
killed. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END 257 

The following report of this day's conflict which has re- 
cently been found in the Rebellion Records, Series I. Vol. 51, 
page 300, seems to indicate that Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas 
B. Rogers who had been exchanged a short time previous, had 
returned to the front, and, reporting to his brigade comman- 
der assumed command of the Regiment. For some reason 
not explained, however, Captain Stockton appears as the com- 
mander of the Regiment in all subsequent reports after date 
of the 29th. 

Headquarters One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

March 26, 1865. 
Captain : 

In compliance with orders this day received, I have the 
honor to make the following report of operations of the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers during 
the engagement of yesterday. After arriving on the ground 
beyond our picket line, in obedience to orders of the Brigade 
Commander, I formed my command on the line of rifle pits 
that had been abandoned by the enemy's pickets, taking 
position between the Sixty-first New York, on the left, and 
the Twenty-sixth Michigan on the right. Several attacks 
of the enemy were repulsed: one between 3 and 4 and the 
other between 5 and 7 P. M. After dark I sent out videttes 
of my own Regiment, who remained on post until relieved by 
the Eighty-first Pennsylvania, under orders from the Brigade 
Commander. 

I then deployed my Regiment so as to connect on the 
right with the Twenty-sixth Michigan, which had moved 
farther to the right, and remained in this position until we 
were ordered to fall in and march back to camp. The 
officers and men of the Regiment behaved well, as they 
always had done. 

I regret to have to mention that Captain John F. Wilson 
was severely wounded in the action. He is a gallant, faith- 
ful and efficient officer, and his loss will be felt by the 
Regiment. One enlisted man was killed and three were 
wounded. 

I have the honor to be very respectfully, 
Your obedient servant, 

(Signed) Thomas B. Rogers, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding, 



258 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers. 
Captain William McCallister, 

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. 

On the night of the 28th the Second Corps was relieved 
from duty in the intrenchments by two divisions of the 
Twenty-fourth Corps, and in the early morning of the 29th 
moved with the Fifth Corps, Sheridan's cavalry being in the 
advance, to its designated position, on the left as indicated by 
General Grant on the 24th. 

This point was reached about 10 o'clock at night. There 
was a heavy rainfall during the night which continued with 
slight intervals of sunshine, all of the day following. 

The object of the consolidation of two infantry corps and 
Sheridan's large command, at this place, was to strike a blow 
at some point on the South Side Railroad, the one line of 
communication which was still open toward the Southland 
and its resources. The objective most available was the con- 
vergence of five wagon roads, known as Five Forks. It was 
about five miles to the left of the Union line and in order to 
defend it against a force so formidable. Grant rightly judged 
that Lee would be compelled to extend his line to the breaking 
point. 

This menace to his most exposed flank was too formid- 
able also to be left to the men who were already defending it, 
and, at the risk of losing ground at other points, the Confed- 
erate commander hurried reinforcements thither from other 
parts of the line. The operations of the Union troops on the 
30th were delayed somewhat by the rain, which continued to 
fall most of the day, flooding the low country on the line of 
march and rendering the roads impassable in places for trains 
of artillery. Some progress was made, however, by the troops, 
who plodded on through swamps and mud in the direction of 
the White Oak Road. In this advance, as usual, the One 
Hundred and Fortieth was on the skirmish line. At the close 
of the day the enemy was driven inside his intrenchments, 
along Hatcher's Run, but no attempt was made to assauit this 
portion of the line. On the morning of the 31st the Confeder- 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END 259 

ates took the initiative. Massing a force of cavalry and in- 
fantry under General Pickett on their extreme right they at- 
tacked a portion of Sheridan's Corps, which had advanced 
the previous day from Dinwiddie Court House to Five Forks, 
driving them back after a desperate all-day conflict toward 
Dinwiddie. A second attack during- the day was made upon 
Warren's Fifth Corps, which resulted in driving back two of 
his divisions for some distance, but, with the aid of Griffin's 
Division and the timely assistance given by two brigades of 
General Miles, a countercharge was made and the lost ground 
recovered. Meanwhile the brigade with which the One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth was connected assaulted the works in its 
immediate front but without success, as they were still strongly 
manned. In making this attempt the One Hundred and 
Fortieth charged across an open space, swept by the fire of the 
enemy, in which five enlisted men were wounded. The loss 
of the First Division of the Second Corps during the day were 
45 killed; 245 wounded and 41 missing. 

On the first day of April Sheridan's Corps, supported by 
the Fifth Corps, attacked the concentrated force of the enemy 
at Five Forks, and, after a hard fought battle, in which the 
Confederates fought with great gallantry, they were at length 
put to flight and utterly routed. This crushing blow to the 
right wing of Lee's army decided the fate of Petersburg and 
Richmond, and, as Mr. Nicolay puts it, "should have ended 
the war." The trophies for the victors were a number of guns 
and colors and the loss to the Confederates was a large number 
of men killed and wounded and over five thousand who were 
made prisoners. "The flying troops, says General Grant, "were 
pursued in different directions, the cavalry and Fifth Corps 
under Sheridan pursuing the larger body which moved north- 
west." 

On the morning of this memorable day we were posted 
along the Boydtown Plank Road and distinctly heard the roar 
of Sheridan's guns, about five miles distant. At nightfall the 
Regiment moved forward to the White Oak Road. About 
9 o'clock a demonstration was made in our front to test the 



260 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

strength of the enemy and for some time thereafter a brisk 
fire of musketry was kept up. 

During - its continuance General Miles was ordered to 
move his Division to Five Forks, about five miles distant, and 
report to Sheridan. In order to conceal this movement from 
the enemy the camp fires were put out and the skirmish line, 
then actively engaged, was left in its place. Behind this line 
the Division moved silently until the White Oak Road was 
reached. It was then near midnight, and, without halt or in- 
terruption, the column pushed on until it reached its destina- 
tion, about three o'clock in the morning. Here we rested for 
an hour or two and were then ordered to return by the way we 
came to our former position. This was to us a night of 
wonders and surprises. Its intense darkness had been lit up 
along a line of about thirty-five miles by almost continuous 
flashes from siege guns, mortars, musketry and field artillery. 
Knowing that the left wing of the Confederate army had been 
utterly crushed and that its defenders were fleeting in precipi- 
tous haste before the squadrons of Sheridan's host, these fiery 
portents in the sky gave assurance that the men of the Sixth 
and Ninth Corps were also doing their part in breaking up the 
line, which for so long had defended Petersburg and Rich- 
mond. 

The order we had just received was in itself a surprise, 
and it meant another weary march of five miles, but the men 
were in fine spirits notwithstanding, and little regarded the 
length of the way or the weariness of the flesh, in their eager 
desire to have a part in the general breaking up. 

When we arrived at the part of the line to which we had 
been ordered, it was announced that the Confederates were 
leaving their works. Without waiting for orders the men 
dashed forward at a double-quick and with a wild chorus of 
cheers entered and took possession. A few stragglers and 
some of the rearguard fell into our hands, but the main body 
retreated in the direction of Sutherland Station on the South 
Side Road. "Never shall I forget," says General Miles, "the 
exultation that thrilled my very soul as our troops swept over 
the line of fortifications soon after dawn on that memorable 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END 261 

day of April 2, 1865. It was then apparent to all that the 
supreme crisis of the Confederacy had been reached and that 
the hour of its downfall had arrived." In the midst of this 
excitement Sheridan appeared and again the whole line broke 
out into another chorus of hearty cheers. With a deprecating 
wave of his hand the General silenced this outcry and called 
out in ringing, far-reaching tones, "Save your wind, boys, 
you'll need it before the day's work is done." 

Then, as the order was given to pursue the fleeing Con- 
federates, every man in his place started eagerly forward. In 
a valuable letter written to his father a few days after these 
events took place, Captain Burns describes the first stage of 
the pursuit, as follows : 

The column started off, every man for himself, at a dead 
run, hallooing, throwing their hats in the air, and before I 
was aware my company numbered just two men, the rest 
having gone on ahead. After awhile the column was reor- 
ganized and moved forward in proper style. When we had 
advanced a mile or more we caught up with the retreating 
rebels and pitched into them. The One Hundred and For- 
tieth was ordered out to support our skirmish line that was 
about to be drawn in. I was sent forward to the line with 
the left wing of the Regiment. I had to lead it over an 
open field exposed to a severe musketry fire. In doing this 
I had nine men wounded, not from Company A, however. 
Shortly after the remainder of the Regiment was brought 
out and the line ordered forward; so forward we went, and 
back went the rebels, first through an open field. Then came 
our chance, and we improved it. I have often seen them 
run, but never did I see them make the time in "two forty" 
so easy before. They threw away everything they had and 
lit out at full speed. We captured quite a squad of them and 
two pieces of artillery. At Sutherland Station we struck the 
South Side road. We were then relieved and went into camp 
three miles beyond, tired, weary, our Sabbath day's labor 
ended. I have often heard of such and such being a hard 
way of serving the Lord. That day I realized it. So closed 
the second of April. 

The battle at Sutherland Station, which Captain Burns 
described from his standpoint, was one of the most stubbornly 



262 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

contested engagements of the campaign. The Confederates 
held a strongly intrenched position and repulsed two direct 
assaults which were made upon it. It was at length carried 
by a well-executed flank movement with a loss to the enemy 
of two pieces of artillery, one battle flag and 600 prisoners. 
During this part of the pursuit the First Division was isolated 
from the rest of the corps. From the 3rd to the 5th inclusive 
the command marched with the corps toward Amelia Court 
House on the Richmond and Danville Railroad, where Lee's 
army was holding a fortified position until he could secure 
some much needed supplies. Early on the morning of the 
6th we fell in with the rear guard of General Lee's army in 
the immediate vicinity of Amelia Springs, a celebrated Vir- 
ginia watering place. Here the discovery was made that the 
Confederates, thwarted in their purpose to go south by way 
of Danville had turned westward, and were moving by way 
of the Deatonsville road toward Farmville on the Lynchburg 
Railroad. The direction of the column was changed at once 
and with a heavy force of skirmishers in front and flankers by 
the side of the road the Division started in pursuit of the 
fleeing enemy. Their rear guard, which was a heavy column 
of infantry and a battery or two of artillery was encumbered 
by a long wagon train and upon this the skirmishers and their 
supports pounced down several times during the day, causing 
great confusion and cutting off men, wagons and pieces of 
artillery, at several points on the way. Referring to this day's 
pursuit General Miles says in his official report : 

The pursuit of the enemy was continued all that day, 
the troops moving in line of battle over all kinds of ground, 
preceded by a long and heavy skirmish line, the line being 
always on the right of the road. The skirmishers were 
almost constantly engaged with the rear guard of the enemy, 
but the great length of the line enabled us to expel them 
from all their positions by overlapping their flank. At one 
position taken up they were successfully charged by the 
Twenty-sixth Michigan and the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, who captured 100 prisoners. 

Whenever it appeared probable that the enemy might 



THE BEGINNING OP THE END 263 

check us the skirmish line was reinforced by a regiment 
habitually on the right. Proceeding in this manner, we ad- 
vanced rapidly in line about sixteen miles, being often in 
sight of the wagon train of the enemy and capturing a great 
many prisoners. Upon arriving at the vicinity of Sailor's 
Creek, about sunset, the enemy were found strongly posted 
on a commanding ridge of ground, covering the creek and 
evidently determined to make a fight in order to gain time for 
the crossing of the train. I gave orders for the First 
Brigade (Colonel Scott) to take the position. The Brigade 
advanced splendidly, charged with a cheer, and drove the 
enemy in confusion into and across the creek, capturing two 
guns, four colors, his entire train of about 250 wagons, 
ambulances, etc., together with mules, horses and all appur- 
tenances, and a large number of prisoners. 

The Third Brigade followed closely on the right of the 
First, crossed the stream at once, drove the enemy from the 
other side and possessed themselves of the crest. The First 
Brigade then crossed and went into position on the other 
side also. 

The Fourth and Second were moved down to the bank 
of the creek without crossing, and at 8 P. M. the command 
bivouacked. 

The captures by the Division on this day were twelve 
battle flags, three guns, the enemy's train and several hun- 
dred prisoners. 

Many of the captured wagons belonged to the head- 
quarters of brigades and divisions, as well as of regiments and 
contained officers' equipments of all kinds, including a number 
of costly swords and other souvenirs which had been presented 
to their owners by cities and corporations. In other wagons 
were liberal supplies of office equipments and luxuries of vari- 
ous kinds belonging to the personal effects of officers of high 
grade, such as barrels of apple-jack, trunks and army chests 
well filled with toilet and fancy articles, heaps of crisp, new 
Confederate notes of denominations large and small, animal 
pets, etc. A litter of bright-eyed, rollicking puppies was 
rescued from one of the wagons, before the torch was applied, 
and fell to the lot of the Major-General commanding the Divi- 
sion, who frequently enjoyed their antics in front of his tent 
in the days of relaxation which followed the surrender of 



264 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

General Lee's army. The day's loss to Lee at all points on this 
retreat was fully 8,000 men, including several of his general 
officers who were taken prisoners. Sheridan's hasty report of 
operations on his front ended with these words, "If the thing 
is pressed, I think Lee will surrender." When Grant tele- 
graphed this to Lincoln, he received the laconic reply, "Let 
the thing be pressed." 

On the day following, April 7th, the pursuit was con- 
tinued to High Bridge, where the Lynchburg railroad crosses 
the Appomattox. Here the Confederates made a stand with 
a strong force of their best available troops, but finally gave 
way and occupied another position behind a line of breast- 
works, near the intersection of the old Stage road and the 
Farmville plank road. The Twenty-sixth Michigan and the 
One Hundred and Fortieth being on the skirmish line were 
the first to draw the fire of the enemy in this position, and in 
this, their last battle, met with a repulse : and, for the time in 
which they were engaged, a very heavy loss. In comparing 
the accounts which describe this engagement it appears that 
the full strength of the Confederates was not known until the 
skirmishers in their impetuous charge had gone too far to 
recede with safety. The letter of Captain Burns, to which 
reference has been made, gives some interesting facts which 
throw light upon the somewhat confused accounts which have 
come down to us. 

"The next day," he writes, "we found the enemy at Farm- 
ville about 3 P. M. The Regiment was again on the skirmish 
line with our twin Regiment, the Twenty-sixth Michigan. 
This day the enemy put their best troops in the rear and we 
thought we would drive them with our skirmish line, as 
usual, and so we pressed upon a whole division in rifle pits, 
went up within two rods of them and fought them with only 
one to ten. Whenever they showed a head it generally 
dropped. I knew that if we did not get reinforcements soon 
we would be compelled to fall back, for already our ammuni- 
tion was getting scarce. Before our reinforcements came they 
threw a fresh brigade on our right flank and were closing 
in around us. I never regretted to leave a position so badly, 
for if we could drive them from it I thought we should rout 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END 265 

the whole army. On they came, the bugle in front sounding 
the charge, and over they came. Another moment and I 
could shake hands with them. To be captured while I had 
my limbs I could not think of. The treasonable colors were 
already floating up the bank behind us. There was then 
only a gap of some thirty rods open in our rear for retreat; 
but even this seemed sudden death or mortal wounds, for they 
were then only from two to three rods from us. Seeing our 
critical condition, I asked the Father of Mercies to preserve 
me and began to retrace my perilous steps. I had to go a 
hundred yards or more before I was loose from their flanks. 
As soon as I was nearly out of their grasp I stepped behind 
a small tree, six or eight inches in diameter, to watch the 
progress of the battle, which a moment before was a one- 
sided affair, but now began to reveal a brighter side, for 
reinforcements were rapidly advancing. I was there only 
a moment, but three balls struck the tree below my head, 
while hundreds were singing through the boughs. It was in 
this battle that Samuel Clutter, John A. Rush and Henry 
Roope were captured." 

Lieutenant William J. Cunningham, of Company C, and 
three enlisted men of the Regiment were killed in this* 
engagement. 

It fell to the lot of these brave men, who had seen so 
much hardship and escaped so many perils in the past, to yield 
up their lives in the service of their country in the last battle 
of the great war. They died just before the morning of a 
new era of peace and prosperity came: and the news of the 
surrender of the Confederate army reached the ears of their 
loved ones in Western Pennsylvania, it is said, before the sad 
tidings of their untimely death. 

On the 8th of April, the troops in the advance did not 
meet with any opposition, the enemy having abandoned their 
works during the night. Stragglers and discouraged, worn- 
out men were picked up all day, and, as before, we were 
directly behind the rear guard of the retreating army. At 
4 o'clock in the afternoon a halt was ordered for "rest and 
coffee." In his official report General Miles says that the nego- 
tiations of this day, by flag of truce, looking to the surrender 
of the Confederate army, were carried on through the skirmish 



266 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

line of his Division, and this accords with Captain Stockton's 
report that it was renewed through the line of the One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth. In the evening we heard at a distance the 
sound of Sheridan's guns which meant, although we knew it 
not certainly then, that this indomitable leader, with the 
Twenty-fourth Corps added to his command, had already 
established himself directly across the path of General Lee's 
army. At 9 A. M. we again moved forward about five miles 
and bivouacked. 

The next morning, the ever memorable pth of April, the 
march was resumed at 6 o'clock, the First Division leading as 
it had done during the last eight days.* The One Hundred 
and Fortieth was also in the advance once more on the skirmish 
line and frequently picked up or passed over squads of sleeping 
Confederates, who had fallen out, and, by so doing, anticipated 
the general surrender by a few hours. 

The breath of spring was in the air as we marched along, 
without strife or opposition, that beautiful Sabbath morning, 
and our route led through a fertile region which as yet had 
not been despoiled by the ravages of war. The spring flow- 
ers were abloom by the roadside, the birds were singing in 
the groves, the buds of the trees were bursting out into pale 
green leaves and the air was fresh and balmy. After a march 
of about six miles a flag of truce was received from the side 
of the enemy, and the whole command was halted. The story 
of the pursuit which has thus been sketched in outline would 
not be complete or satisfactory to the men who participated 
in it, without the official report which we herewith append, of 
the last commanding officer of the Regiment, Captain W. A. F. 
Stockton, who received the Brevet of Major for meritorious 
service, to date from the day of Lee's surrender. 

Headquarters One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

April 16, 1865. 

Captain : 

In compliance with orders of this date, I have the honor 

*Serving the Republic, page 90. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END 267 

to submit the following report of operations of this Regi- 
ment during the campaign just ended: 

Having received orders, this Regiment broke camp on 
the morning of the 29th ult., and marched with the Division 
beyond Hatcher's Run. Here we were deployed as skirmish- 
ers, and advanced about two miles, took up a position and 
remained on outpost duty during the night 

On the morning of the 30th the lines were advanced and 
we engaged the enemy, driving them into their works beyond 
the Boydtown Plank Road and cutting the telegraph com- 
munications at this point running south. 

Early in the morning of the 31st the Regiment marched 
with the Brigade and formed a connection with the Fifth 
Corps. At this locality we marched by flank until we met 
the enemy's skirmishers near the Boydtown Plank Road. A 
charge was made by three Regiments of this Brigade, of 
which the One Hundred and Fortieth was one, and the 
enemy was forced from his alignment in our front. We 
captured nine prisoners. 

On the first day of April twenty-five picked men, under 
Captains Ray and Burns from this Regiment, in pursuance 
of instructions from Brevet Major-General Miles, were sent 
to ascertain the exact locality of Gregg's cavalry, with a 
view to effecting a junction with that division. This was 
successfully accomplished and a report was forwarded to the 
General commanding the Division. 

On the morning of the second of April we marched 
through the enemy's works, and were immediately sent to 
the front in support of the skirmish line commanded by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Glenny, of the Sixty-fourth New York 
Volunteers. An advance was ordered, and the men charged 
the works of the enemy protecting the South Side Railroad, 
driving them beyond the road one mile and capturing eigh- 
teen prisoners. The loss of the command in this engage- 
ment was seven wounded, two of this number being regarded 
as fatally injured. 

The third, fourth and fifth days of April were occupied 
in marching on the Namozine Road in pursuit of the enemy. 
We advanced in line of battle on the 6th inst. and drove the 
enemy from their entrenched position, with the loss of 175 
prisoners, inclusive of five officers. During the whole day 
the enemy were forced back and pursued with great energy, 
which terminated in the capture of the greater part of their 
wagon train and a number of pieces of artillery. The right 



268 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

wing of this Regiment was the first of the troops that ad- 
vanced to and beyond the train. 

A strong skirmish line was posted beyond the creek and 
remained until the Fourth Brigade came up, which was 
advancing on the right of the Division. The casualties of 
the day's engagement in this Regiment were one commis- 
sioned officer killed and three enlisted men wounded. 

The seventh of April we marched toward Lynchburg and 
were deployed as skirmishers at or near Farmville. The 
enemy under Mahone, being entrenched in a strong position, 
the skirmishers, consisting of the Twenty-sixth Michigan and 
the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
were checked by a strong line of battle located behind the 
works. The casualties of the Regiment in this engagement 
were I commissioned officer killed, 3 enlisted men killed, 1 
officer and 26 men taken prisoners. 

Our march toward Lynchburg on the 8th was uninter- 
rupted and we continued the pursuit of the enemy until 12 
o'clock at night. On the morning of the 9th — it was the 
Sabbath — we were placed in the advance, and through the 
skirmish line of the Regiment the flag of truce was enter- 
tained which resulted in a conference terminating in the 
surrender of the Confederate forces under the command of 
General Lee. 

I am very respectully, 

W. A. Stockton, 
Captain Commanding Regiment. 
Captain McCallister, 

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. 

The number of men reported as present for duty in the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment at the opening of the 
campaign, March 25th, was 236. The official report of casu- 
alties from this date until the surrender of General Lee was 
iven as follows: 

ENLISTED 
OFFICERS MEN AGGREGATE, 

Killed 2 2 4 

Wounded 2 21 23 

Captured or missing 24 24 

Total 5 1 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END 269 

When the skirmishers of the Division were halted by the 
flag of truce which met them on the morning of the 9th of 
April, they were within easy stone throw of the rear guard 
of the Confederate army.* The troops which had been march- 
ing in column behind them were massed in close order as they 
came up and in this position anxiously awaited the result of 
the conference, which we all knew was being held between 
the leaders of the two armies. In general a spirit of hope- 
fulness prevailed, but no one was over sanguine as to im- 
mediate results. 

Slowly the hours wore away. Noon came. Then in suc- 
cession the afternoon hours were told off. At two o'clock 
the limit of the armistice was reached and we looked to an 
officer of the staff to give the familiar order "fall in." A 
messenger did come, but it was to announce that the time limit 
had been extended. About four o'clock when many were 
drowsing or fast asleep on the ground a full chested ringing 
chorus of cheers was heard at the front and was taken up by 
tens of thousands of men from regiment to regiment down 
the line. Instantly every man was on his feet and the an- 
nouncement "Lee has surrendered!" "Lee has surrendered!" 
which followed, as fleet horsemen carried the tidings from 
corps to corps, was hailed with the supremest joy and wildest 
enthusiasm. Every man after his own fashion gave vent to 
his pent up feelings. 

As General Miles has happily phrased it : 



All the bands immediately struck up the national airs, 
such as "Hail Columbia," "The Star-Spangled Banner," 
etc. The black-mouthed cannon, that for four years had 
been accustomed to discharge their iron hail against the 
lives of Americans, thundered the voice of peace, and the 

*After alluding to the fact that the One Hundred and Fortieth 
had the honor of being in the foremost rank on the day of Lee's 
surrender, Captain Burns adds that he stood at the gate of the 
McLean house, on the skirmish line, when General Lee with bowed 
head passed out of it. 



270 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

hills and valleys re-echoed the welcome sound. The air was 
filled with hats, canteens, haversacks and everything that 
could be displayed as an expression of great rejoicing. The 
grim warriors embraced each other and rolled over on the 
turf with tears of joy coursing down their bronzed faces. 
With every manifestation of unspeakable delight we then 
realized that there was no longer an army to conquer — that 
the nation was reunited in the strongest bonds of brother- 
hood ; that our country was now without a slave and without 
an enemy; that the great cause for which we had given the 
best years of our lives and hundreds of thousands of our 
comrades, the flower of American manhood, had at last 
triumphed, and that the nation, by heroism and sacrifice, 
was stronger, freer and purer than ever before. 

There lies before the writer, as he pens the closing words 
of this chapter, a letter, brown with age, but still distinctly 
legible, which has this heading, Appomattox Court House, 
April 9th, 1865. It was once held before tear-dimmed eyes 
with a trembling, but long since vanished hand. A few lines 
from it may not be inappropriate here for the reason that it 
gives impressions which could only be made or described in 
language born of the occasion. 

My Dear Mother: 

I am almost too much excited to write. You will know 
the reason why long before you receive this. Lee has sur- 
rendered with his whole army, and from this day the war is 
virtually over. Thank God we have been permitted to see 
this glorious day. Johnston's army will certainly surrender 
and then, dear Mother, we will all return home again to 
enjoy the blessings of that honorable peace for which we 
have striven so long. The men of Lee's army have torn 
down their works, stacked their arms and are now encamped 
quietly alongside of us as though they formed part of our 
army. As soon as the arrangements for the surrender were 
made officers and messengers bore the news to the troops 
and, oh, what a scene ! All the pent up emotions of our 
hearts burst forth in a mighty shout, like the shout of battle, 
while the bands struck up our national airs and the artillery 
broke forth in salutes. How the hats of the boys flew sky- 
ward in the air and the hills fairly shook with the cheers of 
the massed thousands, when General Meade, with uncovered 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END 271 

head and beaming face, rode down the lines with the glorious 
news. We have orders to remain here, close in camp, until 
it is settled what will be done. Good night, my dear Mother, 
and look for our return "when Johnnie comes marching 
home." 

What this announcement meant to the brave hearts at 
home, the mothers, wives and sweethearts, who had waited so 
long in tears and anxiety, who were ofttimes on their knees at 
night while we were soundly sleeping, cannot be realized by 
those who have been born since the war, nor can it ever be 
fittingly or adequately expressed by those who would describe 
it. 

To North and South alike this issue of the great conflict 
has brought blessings incalculable — a reunited country — a flag 
with all its stars and many more which have since been added, 
floating from ocean to ocean, prosperity beyond the wildest 
dreams of the men of the sixties, and now, thank God, the day 
which Abraham Lincoln anticipated and longed for, has come. 
We are not enemies, but friends; the passion which strained 
has not broken the bonds of affection; the mystic chords of 
memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave 
to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, 
touched by the better angels of our nature, have joined to 
swell the chorus of the Union. 

"Now years have flown, and Peace has come; 

No longer hostile banners wave; 
Yet hearts must turn to dust again, 

Ere we forget our fallen brave. 
And time has touched the grieving soul, 

Who mourned the ones that then had bled : 
And North and South hold kindred ties, 

The Nation, and the Nation's dead."* 

"Fold up the banners! Smelt the guns 
Love rules. Her gentler purpose runs, 
A mighty Mother turns in tears 
The pages of her battle years, 
Lamenting all her fallen sons !" 

— Will H. Thompson. 

♦Memorial Day Poem, Colonel Prentiss Ingraham. 



272 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE HOMEWARD MARCH AND MUSTER OUT. 

"Thank God! the bloody days are past 
Our patient hopes are crowned at last; 
And sounds of bugle, drum and fife 
But lead our heroes home from strife! 

"Thank God! there beams o'er land and sea 
Our blazing Star of Victory; 
And everywhere, from main to main, 
The old flag flies and rules again ! 

"Thank God ! we see on every hand, 
Breast-high the ripening grain-crops stand; 
The orchards bend, the herds increase; 
But oh, thank God — thank God for peace." 

BEFORE General Grant left the McLean House, where 
the preliminaries of the surrender were settled, he made 
arrangements for the immediate issue of rations from 
his own stores for the supply of the hungry soldiers of the 
Confederate army. For a week or more they had been cut off 
from their wagon trains and every base of supplies ; and, with 
no time on their hands to forage from the country, were all in 
a condition to appreciate the considerate kindness of the Victor 
to whom they had so reluctantly yielded. With like considera- 
tion and in the same spirit of kindness the Union soldiers gen- 
erously shared the contents of their haversacks with the 
Johnnies, who had the privilege of strolling into our camps, and 
were received as cordially as though they had been old-time 
comrades. Over steaming pots of coffee, the aroma of which 
was very grateful to our well-nigh famished guests, the boys 
in blue and in gray chatted familiarly, cracking merry jests and 
"happy in the thought that henceforth and forevermore they 
should remain brothers against all the world." 



THE HOMEWARD MARCH AND MUSTER OUT 273 

On the nth of April, two days after the terms of sur- 
render had been arranged, the second Corps began the first 
stage of its homeward march, and on the 13th reached Burks- 
ville, where the remainder of the month was spent in camp. 
While the war was virtually over, after the surrender of the 
Army of Northern Virginia, it was deemed necessary to hold 
the Army of the Potomac at this strategic point until the antic- 
ipated submission of Johnston's Army should be an accom- 
plished fact. 

The One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, with the other 
regiments of the First Brigade, remained at Appomattox, on 
guard duty, until all the details for the surrender were com- 
pleted. 

The actual surrender of the remnant of Lee's army was as 
quiet and informal as it could be made consistently with the 
terms agreed upon. As a matter of fact so little stress was 
laid upon the formalities of delivering up arms and accoutre- 
ments that the larger number of the Confederate troops who 
were in battle line on the 9th of April were not present on 
the 1 2th, the day appointed for this formal delivery. The 
honor of receiving this surrender was delegated to a single 
Division of the Fifth Corps (Bartlett's). As the remnants of 
the Confederate divisions reached the designated spot, military 
salutations were exchanged and under the direction of their 
own officers the men stacked their arms, laid down their accou- 
trements and colors, and then, quietly forming in column again 
for the last time, marched off to be disbanded as paroled pris- 
oners. "The kindness of the Government," says Benson 
Lossing, "followed the offending ones, even to their homes, 
transportation and food for their journey being afforded to 
large numbers of them." Much has been made of the ad- 
mitted fact that something less than 8,000 men actually laid 
down their arms on the day and at the place appointed for 
this purpose. One reason for this has been already given 
The historian of one of the regiments appointed to take charge 
of the surrendered stores and munitions of war — the One 
Hundred and Eighteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers — says, "In 
the woods where the rebel army had encamped, muskets were 



274 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

scattered upon the ground in every direction. We found 
where whole battalions had stacked their arms and left for 
home, taking no part in the surrender, not even signing their 
parole. There is no doubt that many thousands went away 
in this manner, which if added to those who marched in and 
stacked their arms would have swelled Lee's army to over 
50,000 men, who surrendered on the 9th of April." The esti- 
mate of this writer is undoubtedly too large. General Grant 
in his Memoirs says : 

As a matter of official record, and in addition to the 
number paroled (28,356), we captured, between March 29th 
and the date of surrender, 19,132 Confederates, to say noth- 
of Lee's other losses, killed, wounded and missing, during the 
series of desperate conflicts which marked his headlong and 
determined flight. The same record shows the number of 
cannon, including those at Appomattox, to have been 689 
between the dates named. 

Adding the paroled men to list of captured prisoners we 
have a total of 47,488 who must have been present for duty 
at the beginning of the campaign, a total to which if we add 
2,000 cavalrymen under Fitzhugh Lee who escaped before the 
surrender; and the heavy losses in killed, wounded and missing 
until the day of the surrender, the aggregate could scarcely be 
less at that time than sixty or sixty-five thousand. Or as an- 
other reliable writer has put it : 

If we add to the list of paroles signed the captures at 
Five Forks, Petersburg and Sailor's Creek, the thousands 
who deserted the failing cause at every by-road leading to 
their homes, and filled every wood and thicket between 
Richmond and Lynchburg, we can see how considerable an 
army Lee commanded when Grant "started out gunning." 
Yet every Confederate writer, speaker and signer who refers 
to the surrender says, and will say forever, that Lee sur- 
rendered only seven thousand muskets.f 

♦History of One Hundred and Eighteenth Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers, page 596. 

fLife of Abraham Lincoln, by Nicolay and Hay, page 197. 



THE HOMEWARD MARCH AND MUSTER OUT 275 

In the advance to Appomattox the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Regiment was foremost, as we have seen, on the skir- 
mish line. On the 13th of April it was withdrawn from the 
picket line at the front, a position which it occupied for the 
last time that day, to commence the homeward march by 
way of Burksville Junction. 

The Regiment was charged with the duty of guarding 
the captured trains and batteries of artillery to this place, 
where they were afterward shipped to the officials of the War 
Department. From the cannon, thus for a time in its care, 
were made the bronze buttons which for several decades have 
been worn by the members of the Grand Army of the Republic. 

On the 15th of April, Colonel Fraser returned from his 
long period of captivity and, with the rank of Brevet Brig- 
adier-General, — a well deserved honor, — was assigned to the 
command of the First Brigade. 

On the same day the news was received that Abraham 
Lincoln, the great-hearted ruler of the nation and the revered 
and beloved commander of its army and navy, had been cruelly 
and cowardly assassinated. This announcement was received 
with mingled feelings of grief, horror and indignation. Sor- 
row and gloom overswept the encampments where glad and 
grateful hearts had been exulting in the joy of victory. As 
General Meade happily phrased it in his official order announc- 
ing the President's death : 

1 
Abraham Lincoln, by the active interest he ever took in 
the welfare of this Army and by his presence in frequent 
visits especially during the recent operations, had particu- 
larly endeared himself to both officers and soldiers, all of 
whom regarded him as a generous friend. 

On the 28th of April word was received of the surrender 
of General Johnston on the terms which had been granted to 
General Lee. This news was hailed with delight and at once 
settled the question as to the direction we were to go from 
the important railroad junction, about which the whole army 
had been waiting, in anxious solicitude, for further orders. 



276 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

On the 5th of May we broke camp and to the great joy 
of every man in the column took the road which led toward 
Richmond. 

At one of the cross roads not far from Burksville an im- 
mense concourse of recently freed slaves, from the adjacent 
plantations had assembled to see the great army go by, and to 
express their gratitude to the men who had delivered them 
from the bonds of servitude. 

In this motley gathering gray and grizzled men and 
women led in a demonstration of thanksgiving and joy, which 
found its natural expression in the language of sacred song, 
reminding those who heard it of the song of the deliverance 
which Miriam led, long ages ago, with timbrel in hand, by the 
border of the Red sea. In this care-free host there was an odd 
mixture of tattered and strangely assorted garments. While 
the garb of the men was notable principally for its misfits and 
patches of various shapes and shades, that of the women was 
conspicuous for its gay colors, the crowning feature of which 
was a bandana kerchief of pronounced color worn on the head 
as a turban, or folded across the breast. It is a noteworthy 
fact that the burden of all the plantation songs of that day 
was deliverance from bondage. They were not born of the 
occasion, but were composed in anticipation of an exodus like 
that which took place, long ago, from the land of Egypt, 
under the leadership of Moses. 

In this wayside concert the singers gave expression, there- 
fore, in words made ready to hand, to the realization of long 
cherished hopes and expectations. Following their leaders, 
who voiced the sentiment of the song, they all joined in the 
refrain to each successive verse, keeping time with hands and 
feet and swaying bodies in perfect unison and hearty abandon. 
We heard the wild, weird strains of some of these long drawn- 
out choruses before the singers had come into view, and after 
we had passed over a hill which hid them from our sight, we 
could still hear, in lessening volume "another of the same" 
from a repertoire which seemed to be inexhaustible. 

For spontaneity, heartiness and evident sincerity, this was 



THE HOMEWARD MARCH AND MUSTER OUT 277 

the greatest ovation which the Army of the Potomac received 
on its victorious, homeward march. 

On the 5th of May we reached Manchester, on the James 
River, and made special preparation for a rigid inspection of 
arms, accoutrements and clothing, with a view to presenting 
a creditable and soldierly appearance on the march through the 
city of Richmond. On the morning of the next day the Army 
of the Potomac entered the fallen Capital of the Confederate 
government with flying colors and bands of music at the head 
of each Brigade or Division. A large part of the city was 
then a blackened waste, it having been fired by the Confed- 
erates themselves, in order to destroy the valuable stores of to- 
bacco which had been garnered within its limits. 

The streets were lined with spectators as the men in blue 
passed silently, in long succession, by; and never, perhaps, 
did the Army of the Potomac march with a steadier swing or 
present a finer appearance than on that memorable day. 
Among the many thousands who witnessed this triumphal 
entry, a large number, at least, were openly friendly and many 
were glad beyond expression to be freed from the limitations 
and harsh restrictions and perils which four years of war, with 
its attendant waste and destruction, had brought upon them. 

There was one exception to the quiet and orderly march 
of the troops through Richmond. As the head of the column 
in advance passed Libby Prison, a low chorus of groans gave 
evidence of its unpopularity as a boarding place for Union 
prisoners; and, as each successive column passed by, these 
marks of disapproval became more emphatic and distinct. 

From Richmond the steady tramp was continued on the 
direct routes toward Washington at a pace of twenty-six to 
twenty-eight miles per day. The bands were consolidated at 
the heads of the Brigades, and at the edge of all the important 
towns on our route the flags were unfurled and with stirring 
music such as "The Girl I Left Behind Me," or "When Johnny 
Comes Marching Home," we passed through the streets, 
which were thronged with interested spectators. In several 
places we received a welcome as cordial as if we had been pass- 
ing through a Northern city. 



278 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

On the crest of Marye's Heights we halted for a brief 
rest and a look over one of the bloodiest battlefields of the war, 
before we passed through the City of Fredericksburg. Here 
we were on familiar ground. Upon the swaying pontoons, so 
suggestive of other marches from side to side, we crossed the 
Rappahannock for the last time. 

Soon after we had left the city, a beautiful young woman, 
with pale set face, dishevelled hair and an agonized expres- 
sion, ran swiftly past us, alongside the moving column, in 
pursuit, as we afterward learned, of the Provost Guard of one 
of the Divisions. Two years before, her husband, then a 
Union soldier, had deserted while on picket duty by the river- 
side, and finding Fredericksburg a pleasant place to stay, de- 
cided to make it his home. Having won the affections of the 
lady, whose sudden appearance and evident distress had ap- 
pealed so strongly to our sympathies, he married her. Pre- 
sumably all went well with this faithless servant of the country 
and deserter from its flag, until, as the army passed through, 
he was recognized among the spectators who lined the streets, 
was promptly arrested and hurried off under the charge of the 
Provost Guard. How this romantic episode ended we know 
not. It is not at all likely that the Government would relin- 
quish its prior claim in favor of the young wife who sought 
so earnestly to get him back, but we hope for her sake that it 
did deal leniently with the transgressor and that this romance, 
which ended so abruptly for us, turned out happily for her, in 
the end. 

One beautiful afternoon, about the middle of May, as we 
were toiling slowly up a steep grade, near Bailey's Cross 
Roads, the sound of vigorous, hearty cheering was heard at 
the head of the column far in advance of our place in the line. 

Instantly every man was on the alert and as the oft-re- 
peated chorus of cheers became more distinct and the conta- 
gion of some great excitement swept down from regiment 
to regiment, we all knew, without the telling, that the end of 
the last day's march was just at hand. As we approached the 
crest of the hill a picture of marvellous beauty opened up be- 
fore us. In the foreground was the rich, green valley of the 



THE HOMEWARD MARCH AND MUSTER OUT 279 

Potomac — a striking contrast to the desolate war-swept wastes 
of Virginia, through which we had been marching — and beyond 
the beautiful river was the fair city of Washington, with the 
flag of Washington floating above the graceful dome of its 
Capitol. How beautiful it looked in the softened light of that 
afternoon sun. As we gazed upon this landscape vision 
through tear-dimmed eyes, it seemed the very embodiment of 
the fulfilment of our dreams of home, of peace and of plenty. 
On th 23rd of May the Regiment participated in the 
Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac. The compact 
columns which swept Pennsylvania Avenue from curb to curb, 
for full six hours of steady marching, passed the reviewing 
stand and the distinguished officers who had led them, for the 
last time. 

How glorious was that crowning day — 
The last review at Washington. 
More proudly in that grand review 
They wore those faded coats of blue 
Than when those uniforms were new 

And first admired by loving eyes. 
More proudly flung on freedom's air, 
Those smoked and riddled banners there, 
Than when their silken colors fair 

First floated under Northern skies. 

To Francis A. Walker, the gifted historian of the Second 
Army Corps, we are indebted for the graphic description 
which follows, of this notable command, and especially of 
the famous First Division, as it passed in final review on that 
memorable day. 



It is now four full hours since the giant column began 
to move, and every eye is strained and weary from watching 
the quickly receding divisions and brigades. But of all who 
gaze from sidewalk or balcony, window or housetop, no one 
leaves his post, for a corps not less renowned than any which 
had fought out that bloody strife to a triumphant issue, 
advances to salute the chief under whom it has conquered. 
At its head, on a snow-white horse, followed by a score of 



280 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

i 

officers similarly mounted, rides that heroic and thrice accom- 
plished soldier and scholar, Andrew A. Humphreys. 

His serene and noble face is lighted by the joy of 
triumph and the pride he feels in the troops which follow 
him; the corps of Sumner, Couch and Hancock; that corps 
which, in fair fight with Lee's great army, had taken forty- 
four Confederate flags, ere first it lost a color of its own ; 
which had left more than forty thousand of its numbers, 
killed or wounded, on the battlefields of Virginia, Maryland 
and Pennsylvania; the corps which crossed the Chicka- 
hominy to the rescue of the beaten, left at Fair Oaks, which 
delivered the great assault on Marye's Heights, on which 
fell Longstreet's attack at Gettysburg, which stormed the 
Salient at Spottsylvania, on the 12th of May, 1864, and at 
Farmside on the 7th of April, 1865, fought the last infantry 
battle of the war. 

Out of the hundred regiments sustaining the largest 
losses in all the armies of the United States, east or west, 
thirty-five have served under this corps' banner; some of 
these, long since wasted to skeletons, have been sent away 
from the front, but there still remain enough to witness to 
these years of desperate battle. Here is the First Maine 
Heavy Artillery, which leads the roll of regiments suffer- 
ing the greatest absolute loss in a single battle, six hundred 
and thirty-two of its officers and men having fallen in its 
desperate charge of the 18th of June at Petersburg, of whom 
two hundred and ten were killed or mortally wounded. Just 
one month before, at Spottsylvania, it had lost in a brief 
action one hundred and forty-seven killed or mortally 
wounded. Its aggregate for the war is four hundred and 
twenty-three, or nineteen per cent, of its total enrollment. 
Here, too, is the Fifth New Hampshire Regiment, gallant 
Cross's gallant men, which leads the roll of all the infantry 
regiments of the army in the total number of its fatal 
casualties, two hundred and ninety-five men having been 
killed or mortally wounded in its ranks. There marches the 
First Minnesota, the regiment suffering the largest propor- 
tional casualities in a single action, having lost two hun- 
dred and twenty-four men, killed or wounded, out of two 
hundred and sixty-two it took into action at Gettysburg, 
or eighty-three out of every one hundred. 

Here, too, are such renowned regiments as the Seven- 
teenth and Nineteenth Maine; the First Regiment of Heavy 
Artillery from Massachusetts, and the Eleventh, Nineteenth, 
Twentieth and Twenty-eighth Regiments of infantry; the 



THE HOMEWARD MARCH AND MUSTER OUT 281 

Eighth Regiment of Heavy Artillery from New York, and 
its Fortieth, Fifty-second, Fifty-ninth, Sixty-first, Sixty- 
third, Sixty-fourth, Sixty-ninth, Seventy-third, Eighty- 
sixth, Eighty-eighth, Ninety-third, One Hundred and 
Eleventh, One Hundred and Twentieth, One Hundred and 
Twenty-fourth, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth, One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-sixth, One Hundred and Sixty-fourth and 
One Hundred and Seventieth Regiments of Infantry; the 
Seventh, Eighth, Eleventh and Twelfth New Jersey; the 
Fifty-third, Fifty-seventh, Sixty-ninth, Eighty-first, One 
Hundred and Sixteenth, One Hundred and Fortieth, One 
Hundred and Forty-fifth and One Hundred and Forty-eighth 
Pennsylvania; the First Delaware, Tom Smythe's old regi- 
ment; the Seventh West Virginia; Meikel's Twentieth 
Indiana; the Fifth and Seventh Michigan; Frank Haskell's 
Thirty-sixth Wisconsin. 

Such are some of the regiments which compose the 
column of the Second Corps in the Grand Review. Its First 
Division is to-day commanded by Gen. John Ramsay.* Here 
is all that is left of the old division of Sumner, Richardson 
and Hancock, including the once famous brigades of Brooke, 
Caldwell, Zook and Meagher, together with the survivors 
of Alexander Hay's brigade, which came up at Gettys- 
burg and helped to hold Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's 
men. This is the division which lost in the war two thou- 
sand two hundred and thirty-seven men killed outright, and 
eleven thousand seven hundred and twenty-four men 
wounded in battle. These are the men of the Sunday morn- 
ing at Fair Oaks, of the Sunken Road at Antietam, of the 
Stone Wall, at Fredericksburg, of the Wheatfield, at Gettys- 
burg, of the Salient, at Spottsylvania, of the closing fight 
at Farmville. 

The Division which is thus singled out for special men- 
tion, because of its extraordinary losses and achievements, was 
the largest in the army. With this notable command, the One 
Hundred and Fortieth Regiment had the honor of serving dur- 
the entire period of its connection with the Army of the Poto- 
mac. And it is with honest pride we record the fact that it 
was one of the regiments which did the most, in a quiet and 

* General Miles was transferred to another department a short 
time before the Grand Review in Washington City. 



282 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

unostentatious way, to make and sustain the reputation of the 
Division. 

The three great Commanders who led it, in succession — 
Hancock, Barlow and Miles — gave to the One Hundred and 
Fortieth, on many occasions, the foremost position of honor, 
responsibility and danger at the front and were never disap- 
pointed in the conduct of its officers or men. Its sadly depleted 
ranks were not filled up, as was the case, in many regiments 
of the same command, with drafted men, but it maintained 
its identity, homogeneity and high standing to the end. It 
was sometimes ordered into positions which could not be held ; 
it was forced back once and again from hotly contested ground 
by flanking movements or the failure of other commands to 
reach assigned positions, but it was never stampeded, nor 
thrown into hopeless confusion, and never left the field with- 
out orders, or without its colors. At Gettysburg its battle 
flag was stricken down and its defenders barely escaped cap- 
ture. At Spottsylvania, three of its color guard fell with it 
in quick succession and the fourth snatched it up, carried it 
proudly onward to the ramparts, and in every engagement 
following until its tattered remnants, blood-stained and battle 
scarred, waved over the skirmish line of the farthest advance 
of the Union lines at Appomattox. 

The indomitable courage of the men who followed this 
flag through seventeen bloody engagements is evidenced by 
the fact that its average percentage in killed and mortally 
wounded, exceeded that of any other regiment which went 
out from the State of Pennsylvania. It stands fourth in that 
"splendid 'sifted' list of twenty-three regiments which gave 
fifteen per cent, and upwards of their blood for the flag," as 
given in the fully accredited, invaluable history of the regi- 
mental losses of the Civil War, by Colonel William F. Fox. 

After referring to the fact that the average losses, as 
above indicated for the whole army, was five per cent., rang- 
ing from nothing to twenty, he says : 

This increased percentage fell heavily on the Army of 
the Potomac, and on certain Divisions in that army. But 



THE HOMEWARD MARCH AND MUSTER OUT 283 

the hardest righting and greatest loss of life occurred in 
the First Division of the Second Corps — Hancock's old 
Division — in which more men were killed and wounded 
than in any other Division in the Union Army, East or 
West. This Division was the one which Richardson, its 
first Commander led on the Peninsula, and at whose head he 
fell at Antietam, the one which, under Hancock, made the 
bloody assault on Marye's Heights (Fredericksburg, Va.) ; 
which under Caldwell, fought so well in the Gettysburg 
wheatfield; which, under Barlow, surged over the enemy's 
works at Spottsylvania, and which, under Miles, was in at 
the death in 1865. Within its ranks were the Irish Brigade 
and crack Regiments like the Fifth New Hampshire, the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania, and the Sixty- 
fourth New York. 

Over 14,000 men were killed or wounded in this Divi- 
sion during the war, yet it never numbered 8,000 muskets, 
and often could muster only half of that. 

In the Century Magazine of May, 1888, page 96-97, 
Colonel Fox gives, as in his previous lists, the first place to the 
Second Wisconsin Infantry, it having lost the most men in 
proportion to its numbers, of any regiment in the whole 
Union Army. Leaving out of consideration the heavy artil- 
lery regiments, which properly belong to another class, he 
mentions the Fifty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteers as the 
next higher in its list of losses, the percentage being 19.1. 
This case, he adds, cannot well be classed with the others, 
because the Fifty-seventh went into action within a few days 
after leaving Boston, going into the thick of the fight in the 
Wilderness with full ranks, while most regiments went into 
their first fight with ranks depleted by eight months' previous 
campaigning. In this classification, Colonel Fox virtually 
gives the second place in the list of losses among the seasoned 
veteran regiments to the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsyl- 
vania. 

This interesting statement we give, as he has published 
it, in full: 

The next largest percentage of killed (after the Fifty- 
seventh Massachusetts) is found in the One Hundred and 



284 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Fortieth Pennsylvania Infantry, whose muster-out rolls tell 
the following story; and as in the instances previously 
cited, the names of each one of the dead could be given, 
were it necessary, in verification of the loss. 

One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Infantry, 

Caldwell's Division, Second Corps. 

(i) Colonel Richard P. Roberts (killed). 

(2) Colonel John Fraser, Brevet Brigadier-General. 

Losses. 

Officers. En. Men. Total. 

Killed, or died of wounds 10 188 198 

Died of disease, accidents, etc 1 127 128 

1,132 enrolled; 198 killed = 17.4 per cent. 
Battles. Killed. 

Chancellorsville, Va 15 

Gettysburg, Pa 61 

Bristoe Station, Va 1 

Mine Run, Va I 

Wilderness, Va 8 

Corbin's Bridge, Va 4 

Po River, Va 3 

Spottsylvania, Va 52 

North Anna, Va 3 

Totopotomy, Va 1 1 

Cold Harbor, Va 7 

Petersburg, Va 14 

Deep Bottom, Va 5 

Ream's Station, Va 1 

Hatcher's Run, Va 4 

Sailor's Creek, Va 1 

Farmville, Va 5 

Total of killed and wounded 732 

Total of killed and died of wounds 198 

Died of disease in Confederate prisons, 28 (in- 
cluded). 

With this record behind it, which will bear the most care- 
ful scrutiny, the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment of 
Pennsylvania Volunteers was mustered out of the service of 
the United States at Alexandria, Virginia, on the 31st day of 
May, 1865. 

When the* Regiment was organized it numbered 1,015, 



THE HOMEWARD MARCH AND MUSTER OUT 285 

officers and men, but afterward the number enrolled was in- 
creased by enlistment to a total of 1,132. 

The actual number present with the Regiment and mus- 
tered out on the date above indicated, was 293. Of the 
survivors, many had been already discharged because of 
wounds or disability, while others were still in the hospitals, 
on detached duty or had been assigned to other commands 
or branches of the service. It was a pitiful remnant of the 
Regiment which, with full ranks and complete appointments, 
was chaffed by the veterans of the Potomac Army as a brigade 
of "newcomes" in the beginning of the winter of 1862. 

The following statement from the Auditor for the War 
Department gives the number of officers and enlisted men who 
were present and paid with their commands on muster-out. 

Field and Staff: Colonel, Major, Adjutant, Quarter- 
master, Surgeon, Assistant Surgeon, Chaplain 7 

Sergeant Major, Commissary Sergeant, Hospital Steward, 

2 Principal Musicians 5 

Company A: Captain, First Lieutenant, First Sergeant, 

1 Sergeant, 6 Corporals, 2 Musicians, 22 Privates. . . 34 
Company B : Captain, First Lieutenant, 4 Sergeants, 5 

Corporals, 1 Musician, 9 Privates 21 

Company C: Captain, First Sergeant, 4 Sergeants, 6 

Corporals, 1 Musician, 1 Wagoner, 15 Privates.... 29 
Company D: First Lieutenant, First Sergeant, 2 Ser- 
geants, 2 Corporals, 1 Musician, 10 Privates 17 

Company E: Captain, Second Lieutenant, First Ser- 
geant, 3 Sergeants, 2 Corporals, 1 Musician, 13 Privates 22 
Company F: Second Lieutenant, First Sergeant, 6 Cor- 
porals, 1 Musician, 1 Wagoner, 21 Privates 31 

Company G. Second Lieutenant (Captain?) First Ser- 
geant, 4 Sergeants, 6 Corporals, 1 Wagoner, 15 

Privates 28 

Company H : First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, First 
Sergeant, 3 Sergeants, 7 Corporals, 1 Musician, I 

Wagoner, 1 5 Privates 30 

Company I : Captain, First Lieutenant, 4 Sergeants, 6 

Corporals, 2 Musicians, 17 Privates 31 

Company K: Captain, First Lieutenant, First Sergeant, 

3 Sergeants, 6 Corporals, 1 Musician, 25 Privates... 38 

Total 293 



286 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

, The "muster out" of the Regiment ended our relation 
to that Army and the order was issued at once to report to 
the officials of the military camp at Pittsburg, Pa., for pay- 
ment and disbandment. 

Never was an order to "fall in" obeyed with more alacrity 
and enthusiastic responsiveness. It was about an hour after 
the turn of the night when we crossed the Long Bridge and 
entered the city of Washington. As we passed through the 
streets the Regimental band struck up one of its liveliest airs 
and the men who had just received a ration of candles for 
camp use, quickly fell in with the suggestion that an illumina- 
tion would be in order. This was improvised by fitting the 
candles into the muzzles of the Springfield rifles — for the 
officers entered into the spirit of the suggestion as well as 
the men — and lighting them all along the line. Then came 
the orders "right shoulder shift," "open order, march!" As 
we tramped along, windows and doors were thrown open, 
handkerchiefs were waved and many a cheering word was 
given to the boys who, as they all knew, were going home. 
In one of the newer sections of the city where the streets had 
recently been paved with asphalt, we halted, took possession 
of an unoccupied portion and bivouacked for the rest of the 
night. Our first bivouac, after leaving Washington for the 
front in 1862, was in a muddy cornfield within sight of the 
dome of the Capitol ; our last was in the street where we 
spread our blankets and rested without challenge or disturb- 
ance. The next morning we were entrained, in passenger 
cars — for Baltimore, where we found transportation, over 
the road we had guarded at the outset of our military career, 
to Harrisburg; and thence, without hindrance or delay, over 
the mountains to the camp designated for our reception in the 
vicinity of Pittsburgh. Here, amid restrictions, more irksome 
than we had been subjected to while at the front, we remained 
until all the official requirements had been met and satisfied. 
Then at midnight, on the 5th of June, we were discharged 
from military obligations and free to go where we listed. It 
need hardly be said that we went; nor did we stand on the 
order of our going. Our first thought was the securing of 



THE HOMEWARD MARCH AND MUSTER OUT 287 

freedom of action outside the limits of the camp. When 
beyond the possibility of restraint from sentinel or camp guard, 
each company went on its way to meet the friends and rela- 
tives who were impatiently waiting to welcome them. 

Thus, without parade or show, or word of appreciation 
from the outside world, a noble Regiment melted away; and 

Comrades known in marches many, 
Comrades tried in dangers many, 
Comrades bound by memories many 

went back to the homes and communities they had left nearly 
three years before, to take up the unfinished work they had 
dropped at their country's call, or to begin over again in the 
attempt to win a place among those who were laboring amid 
the pursuits which make for prosperity and peace. Faithful 
as soldiers the survivors of the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Regiment have been faithful and true as citizens of the great 
and ever-growing country, whose cherished institutions they 
fought to save. 

It is a matter for congratulation and thankfulness, my 
Comrades, that every principle for which we contended to the 
death fifty years ago, still remains unchanged. May the God 
of our fathers to whom Lincoln prayed in the dark days, when 
all the foundations seemed to be melting away, continue to 
those who shall follow us from generation to generation the 
precious heritage of liberty and constitutional law which we 
have received, and have sought to hand down to them unim- 
paired and unchanged. The peace for which we fought has 
been permanent because it has been grounded upon the im- 
mutable verities of the government of God. 

With malice toward none and charity for all, we cannot, 
we dare not abate one jot of the high principles for which 
our comrades suffered and died. We honor, respect and esteem 
the brave men who fought on the other side, and doubtless 
prayed as earnestly as we to the same God for victory, but, 
as our great Commander, who led us to the final victory, has 
said, "we are not ready to apologize for our part in the war," 



288 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

and as another has paraphrased the same sentiment, "we are 
content that history has shown that we who fought to save 
were forever right, and they who fought to destroy, and 
attempted armed secession, were eternally wrong. Forgetting 
nothing, remembering well the cruel blow at liberty, the unhal- 
lowed attack upon the flag of the free, the crime and its sad 
results of weeping and wounds, of desolation and death, yet 
have we forgiven everything. Happy in the glorious trinity 
of results — the saving of the Nation's life, the extinction of 
the blot of slavery from the National escutcheon, and the 
establishment of the principle of the equality of all before the 
l aw — we think them worth even the great sacrifice they have 
cost, and have no room for malice or ill will." 

Our Father God, from out whose hand 
The nations fall like grains of sand, 
O make thou us through centuries long, 
In peace secure, in justice strong; 
Around thy gift of freedom draw 
The safeguards of thy righteous law; 
And cast in some diviner mould, 
Let the new cycle shame the old. 



Part II 



Company Histories 



Personal Sketches 




Capt. James M. Pipes. Capt. John A. Burns. 
ist Lieut. J. Jackson Purman. Capt. Samuel Campbell. 
Capt. John F. McCullough. ist Lieut. J. Fulton Bell. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY A 289 



HISTORY OF COMPANY A, ONE HUNDRED AND 
FORTIETH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEER 

INFANTRY. 

BY JAMES J. PURMAN, A.M., M.D., FORMERLY FIRST 
LIEUTENANT OF COMPANY. 

The campaign of General McClellan on the peninsula 
had proved a failure after so much expenditure of time and 
means in equipping it, and Washington City was menaced 
by armed rebels under Lee and Jackson. The President's 
proclamation went forth for "three hundred thousand more." 
The country responded to the call. Men who had before 
stayed at home thinking their services were not needed, now 
sprang to arms, and quickly enrolled themselves in the vari- 
ous companies forming all over the country. 

John F. McCullough, of Jefferson, Pa., who had seen 
some service in the First Pennsylvania Cavalry, David, Tay- 
lor, of Waynesburg, Pa., and the writer of this sketch, who 
was then teaching an academy at Jacksonville, Pa., abandoning 
all business, enrolled their own names and called upon others 
to do likewise, to form a company "for three years or during 
the war." We met in the old "Hamilton House," then the 
principal hotel of Waynesburg, and at that meeting it was 
agreed that we should join in raising a cavalry company, our 
preference being that arm of the service, and as soon as we 
had the requisite number of men, to unite our squads, elect 
officers, and offer our services to the government. This meet- 
ing occurred about August 10, 1862. We immediately had 
posters printed, signed by each of us stating our objects, and 
each taking a package, McCullough recruited in and about 
Jefferson, Taylor about Waynesburg, and myself in the town- 
ships of Richhill, Center and Alippo, they being contiguous 
to my academy. 



2go THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

I recollect distinctly that the first man who enrolled his 
name under mine was James M. Pipes, and the second one 
was John A. Burns. I rode over the western end of my 
county recruiting, and Burns attended me and was a great 
assistance in this work. In two weeks our company was 
over full as enlistments went on quite lively. On the morn- 
ing of August 28th, my squad rendezvoused at Jacksonville, 
and bidding friends good-bye, we took wagons and arrived 
at Waynesburg in the afternoon. Washington Pipes, having 
two sons among my recruits, went with us, and stood up in 
one of the wagons and carried "Old Glory." On the way the 
boys sang, "We'll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree." At 
Waynesburg we met McCullough, who had brought with 
him about 45 men, and Taylor with about 25 men, while I 
had 33 men. 

The name of our organization was chosen after con- 
siderable discussion, that which was first proposed being the 
"Downey Invincibles," in honor of Robinson W. Downey, 
deceased, a prominent and liberal spirited lawyer of Waynes- 
burg, who proposed to make the company his protege by pur- 
chasing its uniform and otherwise caring for it. About this 
time we erroneously learned that no more cavalry regiments 
would be received by the government, and as we would, of 
course, go as infantry, we settled upon the name of the "Greene 
County Rifles." 

As none of us who had recruited for the company knew 
anything about infantry drill, we called upon James B. Lazear, 
Esq., now vice-president of the Central Bank of Denver, Col., 
who had received a military education at West Point, who 
drilled our men in the step, facings, and company formation 
In the afternoon we marched to the North Commons, south 
of the old College Building, and there an election with written 
ballots was held for company officers. My brother, Col. D. 
Gray Purman, who had been wounded at Shiloh, Tenn., was 
home on furlough on crutches, used his hat for a ballot-box. 
The almost unanimous result of the election was McCullough 
for Captain; Taylor, Second Lieutenant, and myself First 
Lieutenant. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY A 291 

The next morning we assembled in front of the Court 
House and received many heartfelt good-byes and God bless 
yous, as well as many substantial tokens of good will in the 
way of things for our comfort in camp. Rev. William Camp- 
bell, now deceased, of the C. P. Church, made the parting 
address to us, which was responded to by Captain McCullough. 
To the tune of the "Girl I Left Behind Me," played by J. W. 
Little, who was then only 17 years old, now Dr. Little, of 
Washington, D. C, we marched out of the east end of town 
and took wagons in Hookstown for Rice's Landing on the 
Monongahela River. When the river was reached, I acted 
as Orderly Sergeant and called the roll on the river bank and 
addresses were delivered from the hurricane deck of the 
steamer Elector, by Judge James Lindsay and Colonel D. 
Gray Purman. 

We all got aboard the steamer, but the river was low, 
and more than once we ran aground on sand bars. On one 
occasion we all waded through the shallow water ashore, and 
walked for miles until the worst bars were passed. 

Arrived at Pittsburgh, we marched into Camp Howe. 
Here we met companies from Washington, Beaver and Mer- 
cer countries, and were mustered into the service of the 
United States. A flag presentation occurred to Captain 
Greggs' Company from Monongahela City, at which a por- 
tion of the Greene Country Company attended, and Hon. 
George V. Lawrence and Hon. A. A. Purman made speeches. 
The latter, among other things, said, "that he had two broth- 
ers going out to defend the flag, and he would rather see 
them brought home feet foremost, than that either of them 
should show the white feather." 

In a few days we moved on to Harrisburg and marched 
into hot, dusty, dirty Camp Curtin, and here we learned that 
we were to be united with the Washington, Beaver and Mer- 
cer County Companies, into a Regiment of Western Pennsyl- 
vanians, to be known as the One Hundred and Fortieth Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers. Richard P. Roberts, of Beaver, was 
chosen Colonel; Prof. John Fraser,,of Canonsburg, Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel, and Thomas P. Rodgers, of Mercer, Major. 



2^2 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Here we received our arms, uniforms and accoutrements, 
being armed with the Vincennes rifled musket, a heavy, cum- 
bersome gun with a sabre bayonet, which we gladly exchanged 
for the Springfield rifle when we reached the front. Some 
quite laughable scenes occurred when the uniforms were is- 
sued by the quartermaster. A six-foot man would get trousers 
and shoes intended for a man measuring five feet, six inches, 
and vice versa; the little fellow would get number ten shoes 
and trousers a half a foot too long. But by a system of ex- 
changes all got reasonably well suited and clothed. We under- 
stood that our first duty was to help guard the Northern 
Central Railroad, the then great single artery through which 
flowed the patriotic life-blood of the nation in the shape of 
men and munitions of war from the North to Washington 
City. It was soon ascertained that our destination was Park- 
ton Station, where we arrived September 10, 1862, and de- 
barked into a clover field. The headquarters and several of 
the companies established themselves in tents on a hill over- 
looking the railroad giving to their location the name of 
"Camp Seward," while the balance of the Regiment were 
stationed along the road at different points for a distance of 
ten miles, reaching from the line separating Pennsylvania 
from Maryland to Monkton Station. The barracks at Park- 
ton, which had been occupied by a company from the Eastern 
Shore of Maryland was assigned to us, and the Marylanders 
were sent on to take part in the work of driving Lee across 
the Potomac. At a meeting of the captains of the several 
companies, the letters from "A" to "K" were placed in a 
hat and each captain drew his letter. Captain McCullough 
drew "A," so we became "Company A" and the right of 
the Regiment. 

Now our duties began, which consisted in drilling four 
hours each day and guarding the railroad. Gunpowder Creek, 
or river, is very winding in its course, and as the Northern 
Central road follows its valley in the main, a great number 
of bridges were required. These the rebels were constantly 
burning, or tearing up, so that a strong guard was necessary 
along the whole road at the rate of a thousand men to every 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY A 293 

ten miles. At the time we arrived a bushwhacker by the name 
of Merriman had been burning several bridges, and the evi- 
dence of his work was still apparent in the charred timbers 
which had recently been burned. 

The companies located along the road, being so widely 
separated, while they were under the general command of 
the Colonel at Camp Seward, yet in matters pertaining to the 
guarding of the road and daily drill, acted largely as inde- 
pendent companies, meeting frequently at the camp for instruc- 
tion and dress parade. 

Being only about sixty miles from the battlefields of 
South Mountain and Antietam, and these being on such high 
locations, when the wind blew in our direction, we could 
hear the heavy guns quite distinctly. These were the first 
guns which we ever heard in battle. As the telegraph lines 
were unobstructed we got news on the 14th and 17th of Sep- 
tember that McClellan had won two complete victories over 
Lee. This caused great rejoicing in our camp, and while a 
little more than the truth, it meant that the rebels would be 
driven off Northern soil and across the Potomac. 

General Miles had surrendered Harper's Ferry to the 
enemy, and was killed by a shell just as the act was being 
consummated. His residence was but a short distance from 
Parkton, and his body was brought home for burial. Per- 
mission was given to all not on duty who desired to attend 
his funeral, but the belief was that the surrender was a cow- 
ardly act, and the funeral was but slimly attended by Com- 
pany A. Patriotism ran high then, and such was the feeling 
at that time. Prisoners to the number of several carloads, 
who had been taken at Miles' surrender and were paroled, 
came over the Northern Central road on their way home to 
New York a few days after. Near Parkton a collision oc- 
curred and several were hurt, and one man was killed by a 
splinter from the car piercing his head. While the wreckage 
was being cleared away a rude coffin was made and the dead 
soldier was taken on with his comrades. His Captain, while 
washing the blood from the soldier's face and preparing his 
body for his coffin, would alternately weep and swear, mean- 



--94 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

while saying that he was one of the best soldiers he ever knew. 

The Northern Central being a single track road and poorly 
built, and as the trains run on it very recklessly, a great num- 
ber of accidents, similar to the one just referred to, occurred. 
It was no uncommon thing for the guard which had been 
standing during the "fourth relief" to come with the report 
in the morning, "Well, two trains up the road tried to pass 
each other on a single track this morning, and as usual failed." 
The many collisions and other accidents which occurred on 
this road during the three months that we guarded it, would 
in this day of double tracks and more careful running, be 
regarded as a fearful record. 

We had not been but a few days on the road, until we 
were called upon to try our metal as guards. Our custom 
was to place a corporal and three or more men at each bridge 
we were guarding. One very dark night the corporal at the 
bridge about one mile south of our barracks came breathlessly 
rushing in saying that he believed a party of men were going 
to set fire to the bridge. He saw them in the woods with 
torches and acting very suspiciously. The Captain immedi- 
ately ordered the First Lieutenant to take a Sergeant and 
twenty men. and double quick down to that bridge, and dis- 
perse those bridge burners. Guns were loaded and the officer 
buckled on his revolver, and we were at that bridge in a few 
minutes. Sure enough there was a party in the woods near 
the bridge with torches, who were hailed in a very peremptory 
manner, as to their business with torches at that time of night. 
After careful examination they were able to give a satisfactory 
account of themselves. They were good and loyal citizens 
out on a fox hunt ! This was our first meeting with the sup- 
posed enemy, and "the boys" were somewhat excited. Our 
guns were loaded in our barracks at each one's bunk. The 
next morning there was found and picked up at the Sergeant's 
bunk, a ball separated from the cartridge. The Sergeant in 
his excitement had rammed down his empty cartridge and 
dropped his ball ! The Sergeant was teased not a little about 
this affair. He proved to be a number one soldier and has 
now gone to join the great majority. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY A 295 

We remained guarding the Northern Central Railroad 
exactly three months, from September 10 to December 10, 
1862, and while here we could do a number of things which 
were not at all feasible after we got to "the front." Among 
other things we organized a "Soldiers' Posthumous transpor- 
tation Society," the design of which was to transport to 
their homes, the bodies of all comrades who should die from 
any cause. Our society transported to their homes the bodies 
of John L. Lundy, Charles A. Freeland and Samuel Ridge- 
way, who died during the three months we were on the road. 
So far as I know, our Company was the only one who organ- 
ized such a society, and sent home their dead comrades. 

After we had been guarding the road for about a month, 
one day Captain McCullough and myself thought we would 
like to see what the boys of Company A could do at march- 
ing. The matter was mentioned to the Company and all were 
eager to give their powers a trial. So taking all those who 
were not on duty, counting about 50 men, they were ordered 
on a certain morning to be armed and equipped for marching 
except knapsacks, with one day's cooked rations. The First 
Lieutenant was ordered to take command of the Company 
and at 7 o'clock we started on our first march for Newmarket, 
situated at the line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. The 
command was given, "Arms at will — route step, march," and 
the boys in very cheerful mood started off with a springing 
step. The distance to the village is about ten miles from 
Parkton, and we arrived there in good order about ten o'clock. 
Our entrance into the town was quite a surprise to the vil- 
lagers, as they had no idea that an armed force of Union men 
was near them. We marched to the center of the town and 
stacked arms, and the principal men of the place came to 
inquire the cause of our visit. We speedily explained that we 
had no hostile intentions whatever, but were merely testing 
the marching qualities of the company and had chosen their 
town as our objective point. Whereupon they welcomed us 
to the hospitalities of the town, but we informed them that 
we were fully provided with food for our trip, having one 
day's cooked rations in our haversacks. They, however, 



29b THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

brought out a bushel of fine apples, and the hotel keeper asked 
the Lieutenant whether he would allow his men to have some 
good whisky. This being agreed to, he passed along the men 
in line with a bucket and a tin cup in it, each man helping 
himself, there being a careful supervision that no one got too 
much. The Lieutenant was invited into the parlor of one of 
the best houses and entertained by a good-looking young lady 
with cake, wine and music. Rations being eaten, we amused 
the citizens with some fancy company movements, and giv- 
ing three cheers for the Union people of the town, and three 
groans for the "secesh," we started on our return march to 
Parkton Station, where we arrived long before sundown, 
somewhat fatigued being altogether unused to marching, but 
upon the whole, pleased with our abilities to cover twenty 
miles so easily and well. 

An open railroad bridge spanned the Gunpowder Creek 
only a few yards from our barracks. It was customary for 
the trains while taking in wood and water, to rest upon this 
bridge. Many of these trains consisted in part of open cars 
loaded with firkins of butter and cheese. Our company, while 
being made up of country boys, soon learned the little tricks 
of soldiers. One or two of them would go awkwardly clamb- 
ering over a car laden with butter or cheese, while several 
would be posted under the bridge. Accidently (?) of course, 
the one clambering over the car would kick off a firkin of 
butter or a cheese. This would drop down through the bridge 
and be caught by those below. If any of the employees of the 
road discovered them, the cheese would be put again in its 
proper place on the car, with some such remark, "Bob, you 
awkward fellow, you knocked a cheese off that car, and if I 
hadn't been looking it would have gone into the creek." But 
if unobserved, that cheese or butter quickly took legs and soon 
was inside "the tigers' den," the name given by a number of 
our company to a little bungalow which they had constructed 
for themselves outside of the barracks. Not very long after- 
ward one of their number would appear with a nice slice of 
cheese or butter, "with the compliments of the tigers' den, 
for the Captain's mess." Upon inquiring where it came from. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY A 297 

putting on the most innocent air in the world, the bearer 
would reply, "You know how rough this road is. Well, in 
going across the bridge this cheese fell off, and one of us boys 
caught it to save it from going into the creek." With this 
very plausible ( ?) explanation, the slice of butter or cheese 
was fully enjoyed in the Captain's mess.* 

CONCLUSION. 

The roll of the drum, the blare of the bugle, and the 
clangor of arms no longer echo on the banks of the Potomac, 
or among the hills of Pennsylvania. The "pride, pomp and 
circumstance of glorious war" live but in memory. The 
mighty struggle to save the country's life, costing half a mil- 
lion loyal lives and three billions of treasure is over, and we 
live to enjoy the rich boon of liberty and union, peace and 
prosperity purchased by the blood of our fallen comrades, who 
now 

"Sleep the sleep that knows no waking, 
Sleeping for the flag they bore." 

And tho' no epaulets they wore, 

Nor star, nor bar, nor golden lace, 
Yet they who once the musket bore 

Shall in our hearts e'er find a place; 
And tho' their bones in unknown graves 

Or 'neath Southern soil may lie, 
The memory of our fallen braves, 

Can in this Nation never die. 

As long as Round Top Mountain stands, 

As long as the Potomac flows, 
Or oceans plash their pebbly strands, 

Or sun upon his journey goes; 
So long the patriot's name shall shine, 

Upon fame's scroll of honored dead, 
And wreaths of glory ever twine, 

In fadeless chaplets round his head. 

♦Comrade Purman has furnished some interesting incidents 
relating to his Company, in this connection, some of which will be 
found in Part III, page 



2g8 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY B, ONE HUN- 
DRED AND FORTIETH PENNSYLVANIA 
VOLUNTEERS. 



In the month of August, 1862, Thos. B. Rodgers, a 
young attorney of Mercer, Mercer County, Pa., was author- 
ized by Governor Curtin to recruit a company of three-years' 
volunteers. He had previously served as First Lieutenant of 
Company G, Tenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserves, but 
had been discharged a few months before on account of dis- 
ability. In conjunction with Jason T. Giebner, also an attor- 
ney of Mercer, Pa., handbills were sent out to different parts 
of the county, and in the course of a week or ten days, the 
necessary number of recruits were obtained to form a full 
company. They were of an unusually good class of young 
men, the majority being farmers' sons, and many being of 
Scotch-Irish extraction, most of them from the towns of Mer- 
cer, Sandy Lake, New Lebanon, Pine Grove (now Grove 
City), Greenville, Jamestown, and the districts in their 
vicinities. 

The Company was organized at Mercer and went into 
camp at Pittsburgh about the latter part of August. The trip 
from Mercer was made by wheeled vehicles of various sorts 
to Newcastle; thence by canal boat to New Brighton, and 
from that place by rail to Pittsburgh. The Company re- 
mained in camp near Pittsburgh about a week, when it was 
ordered to the general rendezvous at Camp Curtin, Harris- 
burg. It became Company B, of the One Hundred and For- 
tieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, upon the organization of that 
Regiment under command of Colonel R. P. Roberts, of 
Beaver, Pa. 

The first officers of the Company were : Thos. B. Rod- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY D 299 

gers, Captain; Jason T. Giebner, First Lieutenant; Abram C. 
Grove, Second Lieutenant. 

On the promotion of Captain Rodgers to Major of the 
Regiment, September 8, 1862, at Camp Curtin, Lieutenants 
Giebner and Grove were respectively promoted to Captain 
and First Lieutenant, and George Tanner became Second Lieu- 
tenant. Lieutenant Tanner was honorably discharged Octo- 
ber 30, 1863. 

Captain Giebner having been appointed Captain and 
Commissary of Subsistence, United States Volunteers, April 
20, 1864, Lieutenant Grove became Captain of the Company, 
Sergeant R. C. Craig, First Lieutenant and Sergeant John 
Satterfield, Second Lieutenant. 

Captain Grove was honorably discharged, on account of 
wounds, February 15, 1865, and was succeeded by First Lieu- 
tenant R. C. Craig, John Satterfield becoming First Lieuten- 
ant and Sergeant John Fox, Second Lieutenant. Craig and 
Satterfield were mustered out with the Company, May 31, 
1865. Lieutenant Fox was absent, wounded at the time of 
muster out of the Company. 

The non-commissioned officers of the Company at its 
organization were : First Sergeant, James C. Nolan ; Ser- 
geants, K. C. Craig, John Satterfield, John W. Johnson and 
John Fox; Corporals, R. G. Davidson, George D. Moore, 
R. B. Porter, Henry RafTerty, C. W. Giebner, Price Dilley, 
George Perrine and Isaac Davis. 

First Sergeant Nolan was wounded at Gettysburg, July 
2, 1863, and was discharged, December 29, 1863. He was 
succeeded by R. C. Craig, afterwards First Lieutenant and 
Captain. 

The first position assigned to this Company was on the 
left of the Regiment. Its permanent position, as designated 
a few months later, was the Second Company, numbering 
from the right, in the left wing. 

At Chancellorsville, on the morning of the 3rd of May, 
Company R was detailed, together with Company A, for duty 
on the skirmish line, under command of General Nelson A. 
Miles. It shared in the honors which were given to that 



300 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

famous line of defenders in beating back the oft-repeated 
attacks of the Confederates under General McLaws, and 
thus helped to save the imperilled Division of General Han- 
cock in the crisis hour of its noble stand for the defense of 
the retreating army. 

This position on the outposts of the battle line proved to 
be one of less danger, however, than that of the Regiment 
itself in its support of the Fifth Maine Battery on the east 
side of the Chancellorsville House. 

Company B met with its heaviest losses at Gettysburg, 
Spottsylvania, Petersburg and Farmville. 

On its muster out it had a Captain, Ranels C. Craig; a 
First Lieutenant, John Satterfield; 4 Sergeants, 5 Corporals, 
1 musician and 9 privates: a total of 21 officers and men. 

Captain Craig was in charge of the Company, as above 
indicated, at its muster out and had the honor of bringing 
this little remnant of it back to the place of its enlistment in 
Mercer County. 




Captain Chas. T.. Linton, Co. D. Captain David Acheson. Co, C. 

i m' i \i \ Is \ \, X. Vance, i 'o. C, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY C 301 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY C, ONE HUN- 
DRED AND FORTIETH PENNSYLVANIA 
VOLUNTEERS.* 

The Company to which this official designation was given, 
at the date of the organization of the One Hundred and For- 
tieth Regiment, was recruited in Washington, Pennsylvania, 
the seat of Washington College, by David Acheson, a student 
of the College, assisted by two of his warm personal friends, 
Isaac Vance and Charles Linton. 

These associates had served with him — the trio having 
enlisted as privates — for a period of three months, in the sum- 
mer of 1861. 

David Acheson, who was then in his 22d year, was 
regarded as one of the most promising young men in the 
College Class, which he left to enter the service of his im- 
perilled country, and in the community to which he belonged. 
His popularity was evidenced by the fact that the roll of his 
Company, when completed, contained the names of many of 
the best and brightest young men of the town and its environs, 
a large number of whom were college students or men of 
more than ordinary education and intelligence. 

At the date of the organization of the Company, as 
seemed most fitting, he was acclaimed its Captain, and his two 
comrades and associates, Vance and Linton, were made its 
First and Second Lieutenants. 

The following tribute from the leading paper of his town 

♦The data for this brief sketch was furnished, for the most 
part, by the Hon. Earnest F. Acheson, of Washington, Pa., a younger 
brother of David Acheson, who gathered much valuable informa- 
tion from the files of the Washington Reporter, established in 1808. 
Coming from this source, the events narrated at that time are more 
realistic and valuable than those written from memory many years 
afterward. 



302 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

— The Washington Reporter — written after the notice of his 
untimely death, gives a just appreciation of the worth of the 
man and the place which he had already won in the esteem of 
the community : 

"Captain Acheson was the second son of our townsman, 
Alexander W. Acheson, Esq. A younger brother is a Ser- 
geant in the same Company. The Captain was a member of 
the Class of 1863 and in the front rank of its scholars. At 
the opening of the war he enlisted as a private in the three 
months' service, and returned with the highest praise of his 
officers and companions for his qualities as a soldier and a 
gentleman. 

"He then quietly resumed and prosecuted his studies, 
until his spirit was again aroused by the President's call for 
300,000 fresh troops, after the disasters before Richmond. 

"Public opinion assigned him to the place of a leader, and 
as gallant a Company as ever marched under the Stars and 
Stripes soon rallied around him." 

In the issue of August 28, 1862, the same paper refers 
to the efforts which were then being made to secure recruits : 

"RECRUITING IN THIS COUNTY. 

"We are happy to announce that although our county 
was not as prompt in responding to the call for volunteers as 
we could have desired, the patriotic fires seem at last to have 
been enkindled, and consequently a brick business in the way 
of enlistment has been done during the last week. The Brady 
Infantry, commanded by Captain Acheson, whose roll may 
be found in another place, have gone into camp on the Fair 
Grounds, and as may be seen, lack only -two or three of hav- 
ing the maximum. The Ten Mile Infantry (Captain Parker), 
whose roll we likewise publish, are also here with about an 
equal number of men. This company reached here on Friday 
last. A squad of men numbering about 60, recruited mostly 
in Cross Creek Township, by our young friend, W. A. F. 
Stockton, arrived on the same evening, at which time the 
whole were regularly mustered into the service by an officer 
detailed for the purpose. Captain Stockton's company is rap- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY C 303 

idly filling up and will have the requisite number in a few! 
days. We shall endeavor to publish this roll next week. 

"In addition to these troops, Captain Fraser's company 
at Canonsburg left last week and went into camp at Pitts- 
burgh, with the full number of men. Captain Gregg's com- 
pany also left Monongahela on Thursday last for the same 
place." 

The presentation of a flag to Captain Acheson's company 
and the departure of the several companies of the county, 
which had rendezvoused at Washington, are described in the 
issues respectively of September 4 and 11, 1862, as follows: 

"FLAG TO CAPTAIN ACHESON'S COMPANY. 

"A splendid flag, the liberal gift of our patriotic fellow- 
townsman, Mr. Nathan Brobst, was presented to the Brady 
Infantry on Friday afternoon last, by the Rev. Hiram Mil- 
ler, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in a speech of burn- 
ing eloquence. The response was made by R. H. Koontz, 
Esq., in his usual eloquent and felicitous style. We could per- 
ceive, however, that the orator's utterance was sometimes 
obstructed by the force of his feelings, a consequence natu- 
rally resulting from his intimate acquaintance and friendship 
for those patriotic young men long endeared to him. A large 
concourse of our citizens had assembled in the Court House 
to witness this truly interesting scene, rendered intensely 
impressive by the circumstances by which they were sur- 
rounded. The whole scene was to us one of absorbing in- 
terest." 

"DEPARTURE OF COMPANIES. 

"On Thursday morning last, the Brady Infantry, com- 
manded by Captain David Acheson; the Ten Mile Infantry, 
commanded by Captain Silas Parker, and the Reed Infantry, 
commanded by Captain W. A. F. Stockton, left for the city 
of Pittsburgh, there to await equipments, preparatory to a 
further march to the seat of war. Their separation from us, 
though it may be temporary, gave rise to a deep feeling of 
solicitude more easily imagined than described. Many of the 
gallant spirits, composing two of the companies, we have 



304 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

known from boyhood, and it affords us great pleasure to add 
that a more intelligent, brave and gentlemanly set of young 
men have never left old Washington County. May the patri- 
otic ardor by which they are animated, and to which we must 
attribute their separation from their parents, sisters and 
friends, enhance as they move toward the enemies of our coun- 
try, and as occasions arise, afford them an opportunity of 
not only immortalizing their names, but of contributing greatly 
to the suppression of a rebellion as causeless as it has been 
unnatural and barbarous. 

"On taking their departure, a splendid flag, the gift of 
the ladies of Amwell Township, was presented to the Ten 
Mile Infantry. The Rev. T. N. Boyle, who was the organ 
of the ladies on this occasion, made the presentation speech, 
which, like all this gentleman's efforts, was most eloquent and 
impressive. Our clever young friend, Wesley Wolf, in a 
neat and appropriate speech, also presented Captain Parker 
with a beautiful sword, which a number of his friends in 
the town and county had furnished as a token of their regard. 
Captain Parker received the flag on behalf of his Company in 
a few well-timed and eloquent remarks, and also tendered his 
thanks for the handsome present that had been made to him 
personally. Swords were also presented to Lieutenants Man- 
non and Minton, of the same Company, in behalf of the citi- 
zens, the presentation being made by Charles M. Ruple, in 
a brief but felicitous address which was listened to with 
marked attention. The Rev. L. P. Streator presented Cap- 
tain Stockton, of the Reed Infantry, with a handsome sword 
on behalf of his friends, accompanying the ceremony with a 
few remarks which were well conceived and highly appro- 
priate. 

"In this connection we must not forget to state that gen- 
erous and whole-souled people of Canonsburg, in the exercise 
of that liberality and patriotism for which they have ever been 
distinguished, though having only a few hours' notice, fur- 
nished the whole three companies with a most sumptuous din- 
ner as they passed through that place on their way to 
Pittsburgh. Their kindness and hospitality to those brave 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY C 305 

boys on leaving home, not only excited the liveliest emotions 
of gratitude in the hearts of the soldiers themselves, but will 
long be held in grateful remembrance by all their friends." 

The position of the Company, as originally assigned, was 
fifth in the line on the right wing of the Regiment. 

At Chancellorsville, because of this position, the losses 
were not so great as in the companies to the right and left of 
it. The casualties reported in this, its first, engagement, were : 
Two killed; two wounded and one captured. 

On the 13th of May, 1863, soon after the return to our 
winter camp at Falmouth, Company C was transferred to the 
right of the Regiment. 

This position of honor, which made it the leading Com- 
pany of the command on the march and in all its maneuvers, 
was retained until the muster out of the Regiment at Wash- 
ington City. 

At Gettysburg this was the most exposed position on the 
line, it being the right of the Brigade and Division, as well 
as of the Regiment. In this situation, with no troops in sight 
with which to form a connection, the right wing was furiously 
assailed in front by the enemy, while a flanking column, unop- 
posed, succeeded in gaining a position almost directly in its 
rear. 

While attempting to change position to meet this threat- 
ened peril, the Colonel was killed in front of the Company, 
and a few moments later, Captain David Acheson, his suc- 
cessor — then the ranking Captain of the Regiment — fell mor- 
tally wounded. 

Here the Company met its heaviest losses. Lieutenant 
Vance, the successor to Captain Acheson, lost an arm, and 
the orderly Sergeant was killed at his post. Out of 38, the 
entire number present during the engagement, 7 were killed, 
22 wounded, and 3 presumably captured, were reported missing. 

The following extract from an editorial in the Reporter, 
of July 15, 1863, gives a resume of the half hour of desperate 
conflict on that memorable day, and pays a well-deserved 
tribute to the fallen Captain and his brave men : 



300 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 
"CAPTAIN DAVID ACHESON. 

"We have never seen our community so startled and 
overwhelmed with grief, as when, among the incidents of 
the late terrible battle of Gettysburg, the news came that 
this gallant soldier had fallen. The confirmation of this 
sad intelligence, which joins with him 6 other members 
of his noble Company in the list of killed, has deepened 
the first impressions into profound sympathy and gloom. 
In the contemplation of such a conflict at the cost of which 
the glorious victory of our arms was achieved, our exul- 
tation may well be tempered with humble submission to 
the chastening of the Almighty hand. 

"Captain Acheson, although wearied with the long 
marches which had brought the army to the scene of con- 
flict, heroically lead his men into the storm of fire which 
marked the effort of the enemy to carry to success a flank- 
ing movement on our right, on Thursday evening, the 2d 
inst. How fierce the danger was at that crisis may be in- 
ferred from the heavy losses which were sustained by the 
whole Regiment, and even Brigade, within the half hour of 
that bloody strife. The order to advance had scarcely been 
given, until the Brigadier-General (Zook) was mortally 
wounded. In a few minutes Colonel Roberts, who had thus 
succeeded to the command of the Brigade, was killed. The 
next successor was borne from the field in a few minutes 
more. And so the battle raged, with a fury which the de- 
tails from the companies representing our county, else- 
where given, only too sadly reveal. It was after a large 
proportion of his men had been disabled, and closely follow- 
ing the severe wounding of his First Lieutenant, which he 
had witnessed with tears, that a shot pierced the noble breast 
of Captain Acheson. This was followed by a second whilst 
he was being conducted to the rear — either shot being prob- 
ably mortal. It was not until Saturday, or as one report 
has it, until Sabbath morning, that his dead body was found ; 
the ground on which he lay having meanwhile been recovered 
from the enemy. His remains, through the energy of a 
relative, were brought home on Monday night of this week, 
and will be interred to-day (Wednesday) at 10 o'clock A. M. 

How bravely and wisely Captain Acheson led his Com- 
pany through difficulties and perils, none can doubt whose 
ears are opened to the unanimous and almost unparalleled 
praises lavished upon him, alike by his superiors in command, 
and all under his authority. Not one note of discord, so far 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY C 307 

as we are aware, mars the testimony from all quarters that no 
officer in the army, whilst living, was the recipient of a more 
undivided confidence, and none of the heroic dead has left a 
brighter record of fidelity, honor and courage. His patriot- 
ism rose to the summit of an unselfish devotion to his 
country's flag, whether in defeat or triumph, and the ulti- 
mate sacrifice of his life upon his country's altar but ful- 
filled the deliberate and fixed purpose with which he took 
the oath of a soldier. Rallying his men to avenge the death 
of their gallant Colonel, and exhibiting before them a fault- 
less example of bravery inspired by earnest conviction and 
unfaltering hope, his generous spirit was hurried to its 
glorious rest, from the hottest strife of battle, whilst as yet 
the result was in painful suspense. But his name shall live 
in hallowed association with the blood-stained field upon 
which his country's liberty and fame were redeemed in 
triumph — 

"Like the day-star in the wave, 
Sinks a hero to his grave, 

'Midst the dew-fall of a nation's tears, 
Happy is he on whose decline 
The smiles of home may soothing shine, 

And light him down the steep of years. 
But oh ! how grand they sink to rest, 
Who close their eyes on victory's breast." 
"We leave to other hands any special notice of the 
moral character and religious prospects of the noble young 
man whose career we have thus sketched. We have the 
best reason to know, however, that the courage of the 
soldier did not surpass the integrity and virtue of the man. 
Nor is the evidence less explicit which gives the pleasing as- 
surance that he was a true "soldier of the cross" and now 
wears the crown of a glorious immortality." * * * 

The remains of Captain David Acheson were brought 
home for burial, the ceremonies taking place on Sabbath 
evening, August 9, 1863. Within hearing of the ceremonies 
at the family residence, a young member of the bar com- 
posed the following lines, which were printed in the Wash- 
ington Reporter of the next issue :* 

♦The writer of this beautiful tribute is the Hon. Boyd Crum- 
rine, a well-known jurist of Western Pennsylvania, author of the 
History of the Bench and Bar of Washington County. Mr. Crum- 
rine, full of years and honors, still resides in Washington, Pa., and 
continues in the practice of his profession. 



3o8 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

IN MEMOKIAM, CAPT. A., CO. C, I4OTH P. V. 

Pro patria pugnante in magnos honores, 

Pallida Mors venit; 
Pater, materque, fratresque sorores, 
Amici propinqui — O imi dolores ! 

Mortuum circumstant. 

In vita generosum, in morte gloriosum, 

Sepulcro te parant: 
Patriae vexillo nunc involvere, 
Gladium fulgentem tibi posuere, 

Sepulcro apportant ! 

Flores florescant, 
Lacrimae cadant, 

Triste super sepulturum ! 
Virtutes clariores, 
Memoriae dulciores, 

In sempiterne futurum. 



Sabbath Evening, August 9, 1863. 



Moerens. 



"We learn that the One Hundredth and Fortieth was 
engaged only for a short time on the afternoon of Thursday, 
the 2d inst. ; but the large number of killed and wounded 
attests the fact that they must have been in the very hottest 
of the fight; indeed we are assured on good authority that 
it was almost a hand-to-hand struggle. In a very few 
minutes after they went in, their brave commander, Colonel 
Roberts fell dead while gallantly leading his men in the 
fearful strife. Of Captain Acheson's company, only 38 were 
engaged — the remainder having been detailed for other serv- 
ice at the time — and of this number, it will be seen that 
only five escaped without injury. The other companies 
were also badly cut up, showing on the whole, that Wash- 
ington County has suffered more in this one bloody battle 
than in all the others since the commencement of the war. 
The following are the names of the killed and wounded in 
Company C as far as we have been able to gather them: 

"Killed, Captain David Acheson, Sergeant J. D. Camp- 
bell, Corporal Wm. Horton, Privates J. S. Kelly, Anthony 
Mull, Simeon Vankirk, Thomas B. Lucas. 

"Wounded — Lieutenant Isaac Vance, left hand ampu- 
tated; Corporals James P. Sayers, left arm and leg, and 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY C 309 

Samuel Fergus, right hip; Privates James H. M'Farland, 
slightly; John Blair, left hip; Isaac J. Cleaver, in the back 
by shell; E. J. Cole, arm amputated; John A. Dickey, shoul- 
der; N. K. Gilbert, right leg; Clark Irey, thigh; J. J. Jordan, 
slightly; Alvin Newman, arm amputated; Charles Quail, 
hand; Wm. J. Radcliffe, slightly; Pressley Shipley, shoulder 
and side; James Stockwell, hand and breast, slightly; Colin 
Waltz, arm off; Frank B. M'Near, thigh; Daniel F. Keeney, 
left hand, slightly; Thomas M'Cune, hand, slightly; Samuel 
Wise, slightly; T. Mowry, slightly — prisoner, since paroled; 
Wm. Armstrong, missing, supposed killed; Albertus Patter- 
son, missing, supposed killed; Jeff. Yonkers, slightly — pris- 
oner, since paroled." 

Lieutenant Vance was promoted to Captain of Company 
C on the 23rd of September, 1863, but in consequence of dis- 
ability following the amputation of his arm, was discharged 
on surgeon's certificate, January 12, 1864. His successor was 
Alex. W. Acheson, the younger brother of David Acheson, 
who was promoted through the grades from Sergeant to Cap- 
tain. His commission bears the date of January 30, 1864. 
He was wounded at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864, and dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate the following December. His 
successor in command was John M. Ray, who was promoted 
from Adjutant of the Regiment. 

A recent article in the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times fur- 
nishes some additional facts of interest relating to Captain 
Ray and his associates : 

"Captain Ray, originally Fourth Sergeant, served in all 
the intermediate grades, and all the time at the front. He 
has been for many years a resident of the North Side, his 
occupation having been bookkeeper and manager of indus- 
tries at the Western penitentiary. He is a past commander 
of the Union Veteran Legion No. 1. 

"William J. Cunningham was promoted from First Ser- 
geant to First Lieutenant, December 13, 1863, and was 
killed at Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865, two days before 
Lee's surrender. Second Lieutenant Charles L. Linton be- 
came Captain of Company D, May 1, 1863, and served until 
after the end of hostilities, having been badly wounded at 
Petersburg, June 17, 1864, which put him out of further 
service in the field. First Sergeant Robert R. Reed, a class- 
mate of David Acheson at 'old Wash.,' followed Linton, 



3io THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

but took sick and died at Georgetown, D. C, July 19, 1863, 
and then came Alex. W. Acheson, a brother of Captain 
David, as noted. Dr. A. W. Acheson now, he was better 
known in the army as 'Sandy.' He now resides in Denni- 
son, Tex., and is a brother of Ernest F. Acheson and the 
late Marcus C. Acheson, of Pittsburgh." 

There were doubtless many acts of personal heroism 
which should be credited to the rank and file of Company C 
which were not preserved in writing and have been forgotten 
or cannot now be accredited. 

The following instances have been gathered from notes 
preserved by Corporal Philip A. Cooper, which are vouched 
for as genuine and thoroughly reliable by his comrades : 

In the close hand-to-hand conflict at Spottsylvania, on 
the morning of May 12, 1864, a Confederate cannon and 
carriage were left, between the lines, on the other side of the 
line of breastworks which the Union troops were holding. 
During a brief lull in the deadly strife, three men of Com- 
pany C sprang over the works and tried to upset the cannon 
so that it would fall on the Union side. For a moment or 
two they tugged with might and main at this hazardous 
undertaking, while minie balls were cutting the ground around 
them; but it proved to be too heavy for them and they were 
obliged to return without this coveted trophy. 

The names of this trio of worthies were: Silas A. Sand- 
ers, James B. Clemens and Sergeant William VanKirk. The 
last-named comrade was present at every engagement in which 
his Regiment took part and come off through all unscathed. 

On another occasion, three men — Philip A. Cooper, John 
Smalley and Leivis M. Cleaver — volunteered, in one of the 
engagements at the Rapidan, to step out from the line of 
defenses for the purpose of drawing the fire of the enemy 
while the men belonging to a disabled battery made an attempt, 
before the guns of the sharpshooters could be unloaded, to 
draw off the guns. While thus exposing themselves to a 
shower of balls in plain view of the opposing line of Con- 
federates, the guns were successfully removed. 

At Chancellorsville, while the Company was lying on the 




JoHK S. Bryan, A<Jjt. J. B. Joh» Co. G. 

A. W; i. C. 

Philip A I • . ( '.. DUNNING HABT, ( 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY C 311 

ground in support of the Fifth Maine Battery, a solid shot 
struck a musket in the front line and hurled it against three 
men, two of whom were killed, and one was wounded. The 
names of the men who were killed in this singular manner 
were, Isaac Wall and Thomas Jones; the wounded man — 
George Norris — recovered and was mustered out with his 
Company after General Lee's surrender. 

Corporal Cooper gives the name of another comrade, 
Sergeant James P. Sayer, who was wounded four times on 
the 2d of July, at Gettysburg. 

At the date of its muster out, Company C had a Captain, 
John M. Ray; a First Sergeant, 4 Sergeants, 6 Corporals, 1 
musician and 15 privates: a total of 29 officers and men. 

This remnant of a full company of officers and men, 
which went to the front in the summer of 1862, returned to 
Pittsburgh in the spring of 1865, where they were mustered 
for final payment and then disbanded. 

A reunion of all the returned soldiers who went out from 
Washington City was held soon afterward in the borough of 
Washington, at which a general "welcome home" was given 
to the men of the various companies. 



312 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY D, ONE 
HUNDRED AND FORTIETH PENNSYLVA- 
NIA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

John A. Wright. 

There is a village in the southern part of Washington 
County, Pennsylvania, bearing the beautiful name of Amity. 
When, in the fall of 1862, Abraham Lincoln called for 300,- 
000 more men to reinforce the army which for more than a 
year had been fighting to suppress the most gigantic rebellion 
of all history, and there came such a prompt and hearty re- 
sponse from the loyal part of the country as cheered the 
heart of the Nation's great leader, and encouraged the men 
who had been facing the enemy on the field of battle, the 
quiet and peaceful village of Amity and the surrounding 
country caught the spirit. Silas Parker, of Amity, called for 
men to go with him to war in response to the call of the im- 
periled Nation. Men flocked to his standard from the village 
and the country about it. 

Matthias Minton, of Prosperity, a few miles distant, re- 
cruited eighteen men and with them joined the Company: 
and with two from Franklin township, and four from West 
Bethlehem township, two from Washington and five from 
Greene County, the Company reached the number ninety-eight. 

Silas Parker was elected Captain, James Mannon, First 
Lieutenant and Matthias Minton, Second Lieutenant. 

Silas Parker was one of the most highly esteemed men 
of the township, in which, for many years, he had taught 
school, and of which he had for four years, been Justice of the 
Peace. He was fifty-one years of age, a man of fine physique, 
martial bearing and a commanding voice. 

When almost enough men had been enrolled to make a 
company, they went to the county seat, Washington, where, 
on the twenty-second of August, 1862, the Company was 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY D 313 

mustered into the United States service for three years. 

The Company encamped on the Fair grounds, sleeping 
in one of the large halls there. Two other Companies, Ache- 
son's and Stockton's were also encamped on the Fair grounds. 
These afterwards became Companies C and K respectively of 
the One Hundred and Fortieth. Silas Parker's Company, as 
they came in from Amity, and marched along Main Street 
to the Fair grounds, made an impression on the people of 
Washington as a fine-looking body of men. 

It may be said truthfully, that the "cream of the com- 
munity" was taken when the Amity Company, as it was called, 
went to war; the Justice of the Peace of the township, the 
Captain of the Company ; the expert cabinet maker and village 
undertaker, James A. Bebout; the tanner, Isaac Sharp, who 
left a yard full of hides ; the miller, C. D. Sharp ; men promi- 
nent in the community and in the church, business men, farm- 
ers and young men were enrolled in the Company. There 
were about half a dozen boys under eighteen, and one of them, 
Joe Meeks, not yet sixteen, was so youthful in appearance that. 
as we marched up Main Street on the day we left for Pitts- 
burg, people were heard to say, "Oh, see that poor little 
bov." 

Lieutenant Minton brought with him into the Company, 
some of the best men of the village of Prosperity and Morris 
township. The Company was largely composed of moral and 
Christian men, only the few indulged in profanity or were ever 
the worse for liquor. Perhaps one-half were church members. 
Every commissioned officer, each one of the five sergeants 
and all but one or two of the eight corporals were members 
of church. 

Few Companies of the vast army that saved the Union 
made greater sacrifices than did the Amity Company. Cap- 
tain Parker laid his all upon his country's altar, taking with 
him his two eldest sons, one of whom was under eighteen, 
and leaving a wife and several small children. Philo Paul 
left his farm, wife and nine children. James A. Bebout, H. C. 
Swart, Amos Swart, John Black, L. W. Day, Leicester Be- 
bout, John Siber and others left families. We had some men 



314 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

who were unsurpassed in their soldierly appearance. Captain 
Parker. James A. Bebout and Philo Paul were among them. 
One day at Brandy Station, Va., when an officer was in- 
specting the Regiment, as he came to Philo Paul and saw how 
erect he stood and noticed his determined look, his clean gun, 
polished gun barrel and brass pieces, he stopped in front of 
him and said: "There is a model soldier." 

It is worthy of record that there were thirteen sets of 
brothers: four Swarts, H. C, Amos, John and A.J. ; three 
Bebouts, James A., Beden and William; two Bakers, Enoch 
and Zachariah ; two Currys, Andrew and Levi ; two Cunning- 
hams, Charles and Alpheus ; two Dotys, Wilson and Thomas ; 
two Sharps, C. D. and Isaac ; two Evans, Samuel and Nathan ; 
two Bells, Sample and Hays; two Siberts, John and James; 
two Parkers, Hamilton and Albert; two Millers, James and 
Lyman ; two Teegardens, George and W'illiam. 

After a few days of encampment, drilling and completing 
the enrollment, marching orders came and the three companies 
were transported by wagons to Pittsburgh. Before leaving 
Washington, the Amity Company was lined up in front of the 
Fulton House and H. J. Van Kirk, Esq., in a neat speech, 
presented to Captain Parker a handsome sword, which had 
been purchased by the ladies of Washington, under the lead- 
ership of Mrs. Judge McKennon. This sword is now in the 
rooms of the Washington Historical Society, having been pre- 
sented to it by W. S. Parker, Esq., a son of Captain Parker. 

Arriving at Pittsburgh we were taken to Camp Wilkins. 
Here we were uniformed and equipped and the last twelve re- 
cruits were sworn into the service, making an aggregate of 
98 in the Company. In a day or two with other companies 
we were taken on the cars to Harrisburg, Pa., and quartered 
in Camp Curtin, where, on the eighth of September, the One 
Hundred and Fortieth Regiment was organized. The Amity 
Company, which called itself "The Ten-Mile Infantry," after 
the name of a creek flowing near the village, became Com- 
pany D of the Regiment. 

The day after our arrival at Camp Curtin, the members 
of the Company were afforded some amusement at the expense 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY D 315 

of two of the Company. An order had come to each com- 
pany of the Regiment for a small detail of men, perhaps five 
or six, for police duty. Our orderly sergeant told us of the 
order and said he would make no detail but would ask for 
volunteers. One of our Company said to one of his tent 
mates, "Let's volunteer. It will be a snap. It is duty in the 
city, standing on the street corners and hailing all passing 
soldiers to show their passes." He and his friend volunteered 
and also others. Instead of being taken into the city they 
were given picks and shovels and put to work cleaning up the 
camp. This experience of raw recruits (as we all then were) 
became a standing joke on them and it ended volunteering for 
police duty, for we all learned then the military use of the 
term. 

After a few days sojourn at Camp Curtin, the Regiment 
was ordered to Parkton Station, Maryland, on the Northern 
Central Railroad, to guard that thoroughfare from the New 
England and the Middle States to Washington. Five or six 
companies were distributed at various points along the route. 
Company D was ordered to Bee Tree Station, two or three 
miles north of Parkton Station. Our Company was in a 
small meadow on the farm of "Watty" Walker, as we called 
him; and we guarded the bridges on a meandering stream 
from Bee Tree Station to Walker's Switch. In addition to 
the guard duty we drilled daily in company formations and 
the manual of arms ; and once in awhile went to Parkton for 
Regimental drill or inspection. 

After about three months on the railroad, and when we 
had almost completed our cabins for winter quarters, we were 
suddenly ordered to join the Regiment at Parkton, 'and then 
the Regiment took cars for Washington City. Thence we 
marched to Fredericksburg, Va., and joined the Army of 
the Potomac. 

As the history of the Regiment involves that of each 
company, and as Company D was in all the marches, cam- 
paigns, battles and skirmishes of the Regiment, we shall now 
give facts and incidents that relate especially to the Company. 

While we were in winter quarters near Falmouth, Va., 



TH1 r\. HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

our Captain broke down in health. The experience of a three 
days' picket trip was too much for one of his years, fifty-one. 
No fire was allowed on the outposts; it rained most of these 

three days and his wet clothes froze On his person. A very 
severe cold resulted; his lungs became hopelessly affected; he 
went home, resigned his command April t6, [863, and. died 
in June. 

Our Company, at this time, was unfortunate in regard to 
commissioned officers. Our Captain, broken down in health, 
had gone home to die; Lieutenant Mannon had been dismissed. 
unjustly, most of us regarded it; and Lieutenant Minton, a 
true gentleman, held in high esteem by all the Company, had 
been disabled through sickness and 111 August. [863, resigned 
his place. Lieutenant Charles L. Linton, oi Company C. was 
appointed to take command of the Company and on May 1, 
[863, was commissioned Captain. We were displeased be- 
cause one from another Company was taken to command us, 
as we thought we had men in the Company able to till the 
position. However, the prejudice, for this reason against 
Captain Linton, gradually wore away, as he proved himself to 
be a very affable gentleman and a brave and skillful officer, 
and he became one of the most popular officers of the Regi 
ment. 

During the winter oi l86_' and 180 }, while in winter 
quarters near Falmouth, the Company shared with the other 
companies of the Regiment in the frequent battalion and 
brigade drills and in picket duty along the Rappahannock 
River. Several of the Company were out on picket on that 
severe cold night, the twenty-second of February, 1803. (the 
coldest night of the war) and some of these pickets almost 
froze to death. Abner Knox froze his feet so badly that he 
was disabled for service, was discharged and suffered more or 
less throughout the rest of his life. 

On the fust, second and third of May, 1863, was fought 
the battle of Chancellorsville. This was the Regiment's first 
battle. It tested the mettle of the men. Not a company 
flinched under the tire of the enemy. Company D distin- 
guished itself in the rescue of the guns of the Fifth Maine 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY D 317 

Battery at the Chancellor House on the morning of May 3, 
near the close of the fight. After this battery, which the 
Regiment and other troops of Hancock's command had been 
supporting, had been silenced by the fierce and accurate firing 
of the Confederate batteries, Company D took a prominent 
part in the rescue of the guns. This rescue of the guns and 
caissons from the charging, cheering and exultant Confeder- 
ates was one of the most heroic acts of the war. When the 
call was made for volunteers to save the guns, Captain Linton 
and thirty-two men of Company D rushed into the storm of 
shot and shell and hauled off four guns and caissons, taking 
them back (according to Captain Linton's written statement 
in the National Tribune a few years ago) about 500 yards, 
when the Irish Brigade took them. There were others from 
other companies, and likely from other regiments, who 
joined in the work of the rescue of the battery, but we claim 
that there were more of Company D than of any other com- 
pany or command. 

As there has been much discussion through the columns 
of the National Tribune as to "who saved the guns at Chan- 
cellorsville," I give the names of those of Company D who 
helped do it: Captain Linton, Corporals John A. Black, L. W. 
Day, Bcden Bebout, James A. Bebotlt, Isaac Sharp and James 
M. Hughes, and Privates Philo Paul, Peter Phillips, Amos 
Swart, Charles Guttcry, Isaac Lacock, William Watson, Jos- 
eph Evans, Jacob Voders, James Hathaway, John L. Hath- 
away, James Birch, Jacob McAfee, Zachariah Baker, George 
S. Moore, Simon Sanders, James Miles, Enoch Baker, Joseph 
Meeks, Wilson Doty, Thomas Doty, Abner Birch, John San- 
ders and three more whose names we have been unable to 
obtain. John Sanders was wounded while saving the battery 
and soon died from the wound. 

There were some very narrow escapes in battle. Some of 
the incidents I give in the language of Manaen Sharp, in a 
pamphlet prepared by him for a Memorial Day at Amity. 

At Chancellorsville, while rescuing the Fifth Maine Bat- 
tery, "Captain Linton and Isaac Sharp took hold of a limber 
and while lifting it a shell passed under it, just missing their 



3i8 77//:' ()A7-: nr.XDKHD .LXD 1-OKTIETH REGIMENT 

feet. Woods Day was trying to lift a wheel of another gun 
when a shell exploded right under the gain." 

"James Miles had some very close calls. At Gettysburg 
a ball struck his cap box and another passed through his 
whiskers and wounded Jacob Yoders on the left arm. At 
Petersburg a ball struck the ground with such force as to 
throw gravel into his face, drawing blood freely from his 
mouth. His Captain. J. F. Bell, thought he was badly hurt. 
In the battle of Cold Harbor, a bullet lodged in the canteen 
of J. Walton Hughes." 

"At the presidential election in 1864, the soldiers were 
about to vote. Company D was in front of Petersburg where 
everything had to be done under cover. Captain J. F. Bell 
was President of the Election Board. John Closser and John 
Kelly were the Inspectors. While examining the ballots, a 
large shell from Gocvse Neck struck and exploded right in 
their midst, covering them with dust and earth, but not a 
man was hurt." 

There were individual acts of coolness and bravery in 
battle that are worthy of record. 

At Chancellorsville, Joseph Evans, who was one of the 
volunteers to save the guns of the Fifth Maine Battery, saw 
two horses hitched to a caisson in that terrific storm of shriek- 
ing and bursting shells, and mounting one of the horses, rode 
off the field and saved the caisson. 

"At Gettysburg, where bullets were flying thick and fast 
and doing their deadly work, Sergeant H. C. Swart stopped 
right in the midst of this hail of bullets and cut the accoutre- 
ment straps from James Hughes, who had been wounded, gave 
him a drink and helped him to a stone fence. John Swart, 
while in battle, got a bullet fastened in his gun. He delib- 
erately sat down on the battle line, cut it out with his knife, 
and went on with the fight. Harvey Swart, John Kelly and 
George Redd were detailed to guard an important bridge over 
the North Anna River. There should have been twenty in- 
stead of three. They held the bridge by keeping up a hot fire 
all night. When they would run short of ammunition one of 
the three would go back and bring up a supply and they would 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF < OMPANY I J »9 

continue the fire, making the Confederates believe that a large 
force was holding the bridge." 

I close this sketch with the narration of some individual 
acts of kindness, showing the devotion of the men of Com- 
pany D to each other and their sacrifices for the welfare of 
others. 

When the pickets returned to camp on that cold February 
morning of 1863 and reported that Harvey Swart was unable 
to get in, Captain Parker at once got an ambulance and went 
out and brought him in, nearly frozen. 

At the battle of Gettysburg, on the second of July, when 
the Union troops on the left of the line, at the wheatfield and 
the peach orchard, were falling back, A. J. Swart, at the risk 
of his life, tried to take with him his wounded friend and 
comrade, James A. Bebout, and had taken him some distance 
when the enemy came so close that his wounded friend n 
quested him to lay him down and save himself from captun 

After the repulse on the third day at Gettysburg, Enoch 
French found the dead body of James A. Bebout, where it had 
been placed between two rocks by A. J. Swart, fie pinned a 
paper on his coat with his name on it and a request to the 
burial party to mark his grave. He sent home what he found 
in his pockets. 

"At Cold Harbor, Samuel Evans was wounded and lay 
between the lines. It was not known whether he was alive 
or dead. His friend, John L. Hathaway, who had been watch- 
ing, saw his blanket move, and against the advice of his com- 
rades, deliberately arose in full view of the enemy, and walked 
to his friend and made him as comfortable as he could. In 
admiration of his bravery, the Confederates did not fire a 
gun until he had started back to the Union lines, when a hail 
of bullets was fired at him. He was hit and knocked down. 
He grabbed a rebel haversack from the ground to make them 
think they had not hit him and finally got back to his comrades, 
but in a fainting condition." 

At Chancellorsville, John Black and James Miles risked 
their lives to take off the field, John A. Wright, who was 
lying on the ground wounded and helpless. On the night fol- 



320 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

lowing the battle of Chancellorsville, Corporal \V. C. Ramsey 
went to the receiving hospital of the First Division of the Sec- 
ond Corps in the woods and found Sergeant Moses McCollum 
and private John A. Wright, who were lying side by side, 
made them coffee, put his own blanket over them for the 
night, returned the next morning and made them more coffee. 

On the night of the withdrawal from Deep Bottom, John 
A. Wright, who had been suffering with the scourge of the 
soldier, diarrhoea, became dizzy while marching and began to 
stagger. Captain Bell took hold of his hand and led him. 
but soon seeing that he could not do this and keep up with 
the Company, ordered William Williams to fall out of ranks 
and take care of him. 

Two of the Company (whose names we regret are not 
remembered) then took his gun and knapsack, and suspend- 
ing the knapsack on the gun. carried it between them. Wil- 
liams stayed by the sick man all the night, all the next day, 
a very hot one in July, the next night and part of the follow- 
ing day, when they reached the camp of the Regiment near 
Petersburg. 

These ami other acts of self-sacrifice show the mettle of 
the men who marched forth to war from Amity and Prosperity 
and their vicinities. Is it any wonder that the writer feels a 
very tender attachment to the men of this Company, and is it 
any wonder that he has often said in private conversation and 
public addresses that there is no body of men to whom he is 
so tenderly and strongly attached as to the men of Company D, 
One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers? 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY E 321 



COMPANY E, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH 

PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS. 



This Company was recruited in Washington and Fay- 
ette, Monongahela City and Uniontown, being the recruiting- 
stations. 

Owing to the necessity for prompt organization into com- 
panies, the men, who had been enrolled across the line in 
Fayette County were ordered to report to the recruiting officers 
at Monongahela City and, on their arrival, were consolidated 
with the Washington County recruits. As they numbered 
only about one-forth of the Company thus constituted, the 
captaincy went to the larger body, it being understood that 
the smaller contingent should have a fair proportion of the 
offices below that grade. 

As originally organized the officers were : Aaron Gregg, 
Captain; Thomas A. Stone, First Lieutenant, and Irwin F. 
Sansom, Second Lieutenant. As soon as these arrangements 
were completed the Company was ordered into camp at Pitts- 
burgh, and thence after a few days to Camp Curtin, at Harris- 
burg, where the regimental organization was completed. 

The permanent position assigned to the Company was 
fourth from the center in the left wing or next to Company A 
on the extreme left of the Regiment. 

Its heaviest reported losses in battle were at Gettysburg, 
Spottsylvania and Petersburg. Its heaviest proportional loss 
seems to have been at Totopotomy Creek where a shell from an 
exploding battery, tore two men to pieces and wounded several 
others in the immediate vicinity. 

Captain Gregg was discharged on surgeon's certificate, 
June 5, 1863, and Lieutenant Stone resigned February 6, 
1863. These officers were succeeded in order of rank by Lieu- 
tenant Sansom promoted to Captain, September 1. 1863 and 



322 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Sergeant James A. Russell, promoted to First Lieutenant. 
November 6, 1863. 

Lieutenant Russel was discharged January 13, 1865 an( ^ 
First Sergeant William D. Lank became First Lieutenant in 
his stead. He was killed at Sailors' Creek a few days before 
the surrender of General Lee and was buried in the Poplar 
Grove, National Cemetery, at Petersburg, Va. Francis R. 
Stover became Second Lieutenant, March 30, 1863 and was 
discharged by special order of the War Department in Decem- 
ber of the same year. 

The last Captain of the Company was Jesse T. Power, 
who was promoted from Corporal to Sergeant, November 10. 
1863; from Sergeant to Captain, February 10, 1865. At 
Spottsylvania he was the youngest member of the color guard 
and one of the members who picked up the flag when it had 
fallen and carried it until he himself was stricken and com- 
pelled to relinquish it to other hands. Captain Power received 
his commission when he was but eighteen years of age and 
had the honor of leading his Company in the last campaign 
of the war and also of bringing its survivors home. 

At its muster out, this Company had a Captain, Jesse T. 
Power; a Second Lieutenant, William A. McMillian, assigned 
to it from Company I ; a First Sergeant, John Barkley ; 3 
Sergeants, 2 Corporals, 1 Musician and 13 Privates — a total 
of 22. 

The full number of the Company at the date of muster in 
was 101 officers and men. 

Note. — This sketch was prepared from data furnished by Ser- 
geant A. G. Beeson and from other available sources. — R. L. S. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY F 323 



HISTORY OF COMPANY F.* 

This Company, like the other independent organizations 
which made up the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, 
was recruited in response to the President's call, issued in 
July, 1862, for 300,000 volunteers. 

It was a time of great excitement and prompt decisions. 
Everywhere men left their homes, abandoning their peaceful 
pursuits and cherished purposes for the future, and flocked 
to their nearest villages and towns to enroll themselves among 
the defenders of the country. 

Richard P. Roberts, one of the foremost lawyers of the 
Beaver Bar, a fearless advocate and supporter of the Lincoln 
administration, obtained permission from Governor Curtin to 
recruit a Beaver County company. 

John D. Stokes, a noted Sunday school worker, cour- 
ageous, religious and determined, who believed what he 
taught and carried that belief into everyday life, began also 
to solicit recruits from the section in which he lived and had 
great influence. 

Alexander Calvert, a resident of Hopewell Township, 
who at that time was preparing himself to enter the Theo- 
logical Seminary, came over with a dozen or two of men, 
and another addition was secured in Rochester by Wm. S. 
Shellenberger. 

With these several bands recruited in different sections of 
the county, Company F was made up. 

Men who had been watching the progress of the war for 
over a year, and who had formed their estimates and opinions, 
and who thoroughly understood that it was to be no child's 
play, were thus brought together and freely offered their serv- 
ices to save the imperilled nation. 

♦Abbreviated and condensed from published history of Company 
F by Corporal Andrew G. White. 



324 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Assembling at the county seat, in Beaver, the Company 
was organized on the 9th of August, 1862, by electing Richard 
P. Roberts, Captain; John D. Stokes, First Lieutenant; 
Thomas Henry, Second Lieutenant. 

W. S. Shellenberger was made First Sergeant of the Com- 
pany by appointment of the Captain. 

Thus organized, the officers and men were sworn into 
the LTnited States service on the public square in front of the 
Court House on the 9th of August, 1862. 

Now began the daily drill under an experienced master, 
John McManamy. Every forenoon and afternoon the Com- 
pany was put through the manoeuvres until the 31st of August, 
when the Captain received order to report with his command 
to the officials at Harrisburg. 

On the first day of September we bade good-bye to the 
friends and dear ones of our community and homes ; and in 
a downpour of rain, to the tune of "The Girl I Left Behind 
Me," marched away — many of that little band of 10 1 men 
never to return, but to lay down their lives that the nation 
might live. 

Our line of march was up Third Street, through Beaver 
and on through West Bridgewater and Rochester, to the Penn- 
sylvania Station. Here we boarded the train, and as we pulled 
out from the station, looked back upon hundreds of our friends 
and well-wishers who had gathered to see us off and bid a 
final farewell. We returned their cheers, salutes of waving 
handkerchiefs, hats, etc., so long as we were within sight and 
hearing; and then, while they returned sadly to their homes, 
we sped on toward the city of Pittsburg. 

Leaving the train at the Allegheny Station, we were 
marched over to Wilkins' Hall in Pittsburg, where we were 
quartered for the day and fed at the expense of the city. 

At 8 P. M. we left the hall, marched up Liberty Avenue 
in another dashing rain to the Union Station, where we took 
the night train for the East, arriving in Harrisburg a little 
before daybreak. After breakfast, which was served in an old 
barrack near the station, we were marched out to Camp Cur- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY F 325 

tin. Here began our first experience on the tented field. 
Henry Edwards was detailed as company cook, and well did 
he perform that duty; the only trouble he had was to get 
something to cook. 

But oh! Sleeping on the hard board floors; to many 
it was a new and trying experience, and, to some, almost fatal. 
Here our first man broke down. Harvey Brown caught a cold, 
from which he contracted asthma, which ended his military 
career. 

In a few days we drew clothing, with the usual experi- 
ence of misfits, and sent our citizen's clothing home by express. 

Here, in Camp Curtin, we remained, drilling every day 
until September 8th, when we were organized into the One 
Hundred and Fortieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

The Regiment was made up of four companies from 
Washington County, three from Beaver, one from Greene and 
one from Mercer County. Here our Captain was elected 
Colonel and our Orderly Sergeant, W. S. Shellenberger, was 
appointed Adjutant. On the following day we received arms 
— the Belgian rifle, with big, heavy sabre bayonets — and on 
September 10th, at 4 P. M., left Camp Curtin and proceeded 
by rail down the North Central Railroad to Parkton Station, 
twenty-five miles from Baltimore. Here the Company went 
into camp with Companies B, G and Q, the rest of the Regi- 
ment being distributed along the road to do guard duty. 

By the promotion of Captain Roberts to Colonel of the 
Regiment and First Sergeant Shellenberger to the rank of 
Adjutant, two vacancies were made in the offices of the Com- 
pany. As the result of an election, which was held September 
15th, Thomas Henry was chosen as Captain and Alex. Calvert 
Second Lieutenant. John D. Stokes retained his position as 
First Lieutenant of the Company, and by regular promotion, 
Sergeant Andrew M. Purdy became the First, or Orderly 
Sergeant. 

Shortly afterwards the Regiment received its colors, and 
Robert Riddle was appointed Color Sergeant. 

Here, in Camp Seward, the Company remained for nearly 



jjo THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

three months, sharing- in the experiences of the rest of the 
battalion. Each day had its regularly appointed service of 
guard duty, its drills, dress parades, inspections, etc., etc. 

On the 10th of December the Company broke camp and, 
with the rest of the Regiment, took passage for the front in 
a train of box and cattle cars. On the heights directly be- 
hind Falmouth. Va.. we cleared a grove of its heavy timber 
and constructed comfortable winter huts. 

From the date of our arrival at this place — December 
joth — we became a constituent part of the Army of the Poto- 
mac. Our assignment was to General Zook's Brigade of the 
First Division, Second Army Corps. At a later date we were 
transferred to the First Brigade, but our connection with the 
First Division continued unbroken until we were mustered out 
of the service. 

With the rest of the Regiment we participated in the 
drills, reviews, inspections and regular details for camp and 
picket duty during the winter and spring of 1S63. 

At Chancellorsville Company F, while supporting the 
Fifth Maine Battery, close to the Chancellor House, was called 
upon for a detail of men to assist in rescuing a number of 
wounded soldiers from this building, which had been set on 
fire by the enemy's shells. Captain Henry promptly responded 
to this call, and rushing into the burning building, by the east 
entrance, brought out thirty-three wounded men and three 
badly frightened women. 

At Gettysburg Company F was the second company from 
the right of the Regiment. Eight were killed or mortally 
wounded, seventeen were more or less seriously injured, and 
eight were captured. 

The Company left the Gettysburg field with eleven men 
out of forty-nine taken into action. At Falling Waters, how- 
ever, twelve men, who had been on special detail for the guard- 
ing of cattle, were returned in the rank and file, making a 
total of twenty-two for active service. 

While in winter quarters — Yw'64 — the Company received 
nineteen recruits. These men had been gathered up in West- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY /• 327 

ern Pennsylvania of officers detailed for this purpose In the 
general history, the part taken by this Company in the wilder- 
ness campaign and in the events which followed, up to the 
surrender of General Lee, has been already given. 

After this surrender the long-looked-for and the lone- 
hoped-for order arrived — "Homeward bound," — and Com- 
pany F, in its place as second in line, with the One Hundred 
and Fortieth leading the Corps, steps out with its old-time 
swing for home and "God's country." 

Back to and through Richmond, over the well-beaten 
tracks, over former battlefields, where comrades dear had 
given up their young lives. What memories come crowding 
back! In fancy we live the scenes over again. Here in this 
ravine we seem to see in shadowy outline the blanched face 
of one so dear as he fell dead at our feet, and, oh ! how we 
regret now that in the rush and excitement of the charge we 
did not have the chance even to stop and receive his good-bye. 

Scattered around we see the little mounds that cover the 
remains of comrades gone and true ; so, uncovered and with 
bowed heads, we stand looking at these hastily made graves 
that hold the remains of those who in vigorous, young man- 
hood started out with us to find these lonely resting places. 

Then the thought comes, Oh, war! Cruel, inhuman, 
blackfaced war! Thank God it is all over at last. And, with 
eyes raised to heaven, we silently return thanks to the Giver 
of all good that at last our task is finished; that, under the 
blessing of God, this "Government of the people, for the people 
and by the people" shall not perish from the earth : nor have 
these sacrifices been made in vain. 

Then bidding good-bye to these graves of our loved com- 
rades who now so peacefully sleep in the soil of old Vir- 
ginia, we turn our faces once more to the rosy East. And 
now onward, up through Fredericksburg and on to the Cap- 
itol, which we find still draped in mourning for our lamented 
Lincoln, we go into camp not far from that city of the dead 
— "Arlington Cemetery." 

A few days more, and what is left of Company F goes, 



328 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

proudly swinging, up Pennsylvania Avenue in the Great Re- 
view, where the representatives of the earth uncover and wave 
welcome to the returning victors of the greatest war this old 
mother earth has record of. 

Little remains now to be told. Once more on board the 
trains bound for dear, dirty old Pittsburg, where, in a few 
days more, the Company is mustered out of service; then 
home. sw r eet home, to receive hugs and kisses from loved 
ones who have watched, waited and prayed for this happy 
event. 

Company F left Beaver with 101 men, and received re- 
cruits to the number of nineteen, making a total enrolled 
of 1 20. 

Sixteen of the Company, including our Colonel, were 
killed in battle, eleven died of wounds received in battle, and 
two from other causes, making a total of twenty-nine. 

At the muster out thirty-two were present. The changes, 
promotions, discharges and transfers to other commands are 
given in the Regimental Roster and need not be repeated 
here. 




Mess No. 9 Co. G. 
A Haversack of Mess No. 9. which preserved its owner from serious damage at 

Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. 

Robt. Laird Stewart. James S. Rankin. E. G. Emery. 

James Sloan. Boyd Atkinson. John R. Mitchell. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY G 329 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY G. 

BY 

James W. Pollock, Washington, Pa. 
Company Historian. 

Company G, One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, was recruited at Canonsburg, Pa., from the 1st 
to the 20th of August, 1862, by John Fraser, Professor of 
Mathematics in Jefferson College and Hon. Henry H. Bing- 
ham, of Philadelphia, who at that time had just received his 
diploma from the college. 

The local designation of the Company, in accordance with 
the custom of time, was "The Brown Guards of Canonsburg," 
so named in honor of Dr. Alexander B. Brown a greatly be- 
loved Ex-President of Jefferson College, who, shortly before 
his death, had shown himself to be one of the most loyal and 
enthusiastic defenders of the integrity of the Nation. 

On the 20th day of August the several members of the 
Company assembled at Canonsburg and were taken to Camp 
Howe, near Pittsburgh in carriages and spring wagons, fur- 
nished free of charge by the patriotic citizens of the town 
and vicinity. Those who passed the physical examination dur- 
ing the 2 1 st were on the 22nd of August, 1862, mustered into 
the United States service for a term of three years, or during 
the war. 

FAREWELL RECEPTION. 

Before leaving, however, the members were given a fare- 
well reception by the citizens in College Chapel. The friends 
of the boys and many others were present and it was a sad 
time and yet they were proud too — proud that they had boys 
who were going to fight for their country. A number of 
addresses were delivered by prominent citizens and by men 
connected with Jefferson College. To each member of the 
Company was given a New Testament; then the good-byes 



330 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

were said, and the Company formed in line on the campus 
and marched down Central Avenue to Pike Street and out to 
Greenside Avenue, where the wagons and carriages were in 
waiting; into these after the calling of the roll the boys climbed 
and they were "off for the war." The backward look at 
the town from Curry's Hill on the Pike was the final sight 
of Canonsburg for more than a third of those who went away 
that hot August day. 

On September 4th the members of the Company were 
taken from Camp Howe at Pittsburgh, by way of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad to Camp Curtin at Harrisburg, Pa., where 
on the 8th of September they were joined in the organization 
of the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment Pennsylvania 
Volunters and were henceforth known as members of Com- 
pany G. 

One hundred and two members were mustered into the 
United States service August 22, 1862. One recruit was 
added making 103 in all. Of this number 17 were killed on 
the field of battle. Four were mortally wounded and died in 
the hospitals. One was drowned in the Appomattox River. 
Three of those who had been captured, died in prison during 
the war and ten died of disease. Two have been accidentally 
killed since the war. Thirty-five died from result of wounds 
and diseases since the war and thirty-one are living. The 
Company took part with the Regiment in all the duties, 
marches and engagements from its organization at Harris- 
burg, Pa., on September 8th, 1862, until the Company was 
mustered out of the United States service on May 31, 1865, 
near Alexandria, Va., by reason of General Order No. 26, 
Headquarters, Army of the Potomac. 

ONE HUNDRED AND THREE WENT OUT; TWENTY-EIGHT 

RETURNED. 

The Company was given free transportation back to 
Camp Howe at Pittsburgh, where on Saturday afternoon, 
June 3, 1865, the members received their final pay. They re- 
mained in the city of Pittsburgh until Monday, June 5th, when 
the 28 survivors being all of the Company present on the 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY G 331 

previous Saturday to answer to their names and receive their 
pay, were escorted back to Canonsburg in buggies, carriages 
and spring wagons, where they received a royal welcome, as 
attested by the following account written at the time for pub- 
lication. 

SOLDIERS' RECEPTION AT CANONSBURG. 

Return of Company G, One Hundred and 
Fortieth Regiment. 

Addresses of Welcome by Rev. Dr. Riddle, William McDaniel, 
Esq., and Rev. F. Collier — Touching Ceremony in the 
College Chapel — Entertainment at the Clifton Mouse in 
the Evening. 

As the rebellion is about over and our noble boys are re- 
turning from the bloody scenes of war to their homes, and are 
receiving a hearty welcome from their friends in different 
parts of the country, we thought it would not be amiss to give 
your readers an idea of how Canonsburg received the gallant 
veterans who have stood as a wall of fire between our homes 
and danger. 

Late on Saturday evening, the 3d inst., word came to 
town that the boys of Company G, One Hundred and For- 
tieth Regiment, were in Pittsburgh. Immediately a meeting 
of the citizens was called and a committee of arrangements 
appointed to send for the boys and also to make preparations 
for giving them an appropriate reception. 

Some seven or eight wagons left for Pittsburgh to bring 
them over. On Monday morning arrangements were made 
for a grand demonstration in the College Chapel and for a 
supper at the Clifton House in the evening. About 4 o'clock 
in the afternoon the ringing of the bell announced the arrival 
at the bridge on the Pittsburgh pike. Fifes and drums were 
immediately put in requisition, and as their martial strains 
were poured forth, a large concourse of citizens of all ages, 
sizes, sexes and colors were soon on their way to meet the 



332 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

war-worn heroes and bid them welcome to their homes. 

Meeting them at the bridge we escorted them to the Col- 
lege Chapel, where an organization took place by appointing 
Burgess James McCullough, Esq., chairman. The exercises 
were opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. Smith. This venerable 
divine, whose voice was tremulous with age, was almost over- 
come with emotions that crowded upon him, as well he might 
be, having lost two noble sons in this unholy rebellion. After 
prayer the Rev. Dr. Riddle welcomed the sun-browned heroes 
back to their homes in a very neat and appropriate address. 

Then came the calling of the original roll of the Com- 
pany by Orderly Sergeant Pollock. The members present 
answered to their own names. Lieutenant Paxton, acting 
Captain, answered for the absent, and the tears could be seen 
coursing down many a cheek as he called out, "Killed at 
Gettysburg;" "Killed at Chancellorsville ;" "Wounded at the 
Wilderness, since died in the hospital;" and so on. Thus 
all the noble Company, numbering, when they went out, one 
hundred and three men, were accounted for as having nobly 
done their duty. 

Next in order came William McDaniel, Esq., who spoke 
of the hearty welcome and greeting given to those who were 
permitted to return, and of the sorrow for those who now 
sleep on every battlefield from Rapidan to Richmond. His 
speech was received with thunders of applause. 

He was followed by the Rev. Mr. Collier, who made one 
of the most chaste and telling speeches it has ever been our 
privilege to listen to, welcoming the brave boys back to their 
fathers, mothers, wives and sisters and especially their sweet- 
hearts, hoping they may have many a skirmish by moonlight, 
and if captured need not fear starvation in the arms of a 
northern "Libby." After this eloquent speech, three rousing 
cheers were given for the members of Company G. The band 
struck up a National air and the Company and citizens marched 
in procession to the Clifton House, where was prepared one of 
the finest suppers ever partaken of. All honor to Mr. Brlce- 
land and his lady for this fine entertainment. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY G 333 

After supper several toasts were read, among- which were 
the following: 
"The members of Company G, One Hundred and Fortieth 

Regiment : 

"Long may they live to enjoy the benedictions of their 
fellow-countrymen for helping to save one of the best gov- 
ernments God ever gave to man." 

Mr. Thomas A. Perrine, of the senior class of Jefferson 
College, who lost his right arm at the Battle of Chancellors- 
ville while a member of the Company, responded to the above 
sentiment as follows : 

"This is a day of days for Company G; a day to be re- 
membered long and well by these war-worn veterans clad 
in their uniforms of dingy blue, the garb of true American 
nobility; a day for which we all, soldiers and citizens, have 
looked and longed and prayed right earnestly. 

"Father and son, brother and sister, husband and wife, 
lover and sweetheart, now greet each other once more after 
many long months of watching and waiting in tearful and 
prayerful suspense. To-day the soldier returning to the home 
he left, not that he loved home comforts less, but that he loved 
his country more, after many weary marches and hard-fought 
battles, many days of toil and nights of danger, is filled with 
gladness at these numerous indications of love and gratitude. 
You who three years ago parted from him in tears, to-day 
welcome him home with smiles and open arms. Your counte- 
nances beaming with pleasure as well as sweet words of 
thanks and praise tell him that his services and sacrifices are 
not unappreciated. 

"But most of all is he thrilled with joy at the thought 
that the work given him to do is finished. The rebellion is 
crushed ; his labors are over ; his 'occupation's gone,' for over 
every State, North and South, East and West, now floats 'the 
starry emblem of the free.' 

"The integrity of the Nation has been preserved, her 
dignity maintained ; her authority respected from ocean to 
ocean, from the lakes to the gulf. Now is the winter of our 
discontent made glorious summer by the return of Peace, smil- 



334 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

ing goddess, thrice-welcome that she comes crowned with 
laurels of victory. No more righting, no more breathing the 
fumes of villainous saltpetre, no more suffering from wounds, 
no more loved names to be added to the long list of noble 
dead. 

"In the name of Company G, returning thus in triumph, 
I thank you for this warm welcome, this kindly reception, this 
cheering recognition of duty done. It is indeed gratifying for 
those who have borne the heat and burden of the day to 
know that they have your unflinching support, your earnest 
prayers. They accept with heart-felt thanks these words of 
cheer and welcome, these many tokens of your loyalty to your 
government and your respect for its defenders. For myself 
I have little to say. I claim but a very small portion of your 
gratitude. The rebels seemed unwilling to give me a fair 
chance to be a hero in the strife. The only credit I deserve 
is for good intentions. I can say cheerfully to-day that, al- 
though it is hard to be deprived of comforts which a right arm 
bestows, yet it is infinitely better for me that I should be thus 
maimed and my country whole, than I whole and my country 
maimed. 

"I cannot let slip this opportunity for expressing publicly 
the thanks I owe these bronzed heroes. There are those in 
this Company but for whom I should not stand before you 
to-day, those who have not refused to save my poor life at the 
risk of their own. Shall I forget them? Company G! brave 
boys, Nature's noblemen, if I cease to remember you with a 
grateful heart, 'let my hand forget its cunning, let my tongue 
cleave to the roof of my mouth !' " 

At the close of Mr. Perrine's remarks, all separated, well 
pleased with the reception that had been given the Company. 
About 9 o'clock the same evening, the boys and many of the 
ladies and citizens of the town were invited to Captain Pax- 
ton's home (made happy by the return of two sons, one of 
whom had suffered in Southern prisons) to partake of some 
of the delicacies of the season. Ice cream, strawberries, pound 
cake, etc., again stared the war-worn heroes in the face. After 
spending some time with this kind family and the fair ladies 




Robt. L. Stewart, Corporal Co. ('.. Wilson X. Paxton, Capt. Co. G. 
I ^s. W. Pi '[ li 'i k, I [istorian Co. < J. 

John K. Paxton, Lieut. Co. <'.. Wm. T. !' ck, tsl Sergt Co. G. 

J. 1' Wilson, Capt. C. G. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY G 335 

of our town, all dispersed, and as they scattered more than 
one of the brave boys could be heard saying, "Canonsburg has 
always been true to the soldiers, and the members of Com- 
pany G will never forget its kindness." 

The Unruffled, Ever-Ready Veteran of Company G. 

Whilst all the members of Company G nobly did their 
duty, one, viz : First Sergeant William T. Pollock, "The Hero 
of Company G," as he was "dubbed" by the boys, has the 
remarkable record of having always been on duty with the 
Company, endured all the marches, and never was in the hos- 
pital, took part with the Company, in all the battles, from 
Chancellorsville to Appomattox and came through without a 
scar, although his cap, canteen and clothes showed the ravages 
of many a rebel bullet during the different actions. 

The Company was on the advance firing line on Sunday 
morning, April 9, 1865, when General Lee surrendered the 
Confederate Army to General Grant at Appomatox which 
virtually closd the war. The flag of truce first appeared di- 
rectly in front of the Company, which was the signal for a 
temporary cessation of hostilities. 

Several of the members of Company G, after their re- 
turn from the war, continued their studies at college. Six 
of these became ministers of the Gospel, viz. : Rev. Robert L. 
Stewart, D.D., Professor in the Theological Seminary of Lin- 
coln University, Pa., and our eminent Regimental Historian; 
Rev. John R. Paxton, D.D., a noted divine of New York 
City, N. Y. ; Rev. George R. Murray, Thomas, Pa. ; Rev. 
Samuel B. McBride, Sewickley, Pa.; Rev. William A. Kerr, 
deceased, and Rev. James S. Rankin, deceased. Many others 
served as elders, deacons or trustees in the respective congrega- 
tions to which they belonged, in fact all the members of Com- 
pany G have "made good," are well-to-do financially, nearly 
all have been married and have descendants. Congressman 
H. H. Bingham, of Philadelphia, recently deceased, was, for 
thirty-three years, the Representative of the First Congres- 
sional District of the State, and for many years the "Father of 



336 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

« 

the House," in point of service; James W. Pollock, Washing- 
ton, Pa., historian of Company G. was County Commissioner 
of Washington County, Pa. ; Dr. James G. Sloan, deceased, 
and John M. Berry, deceased, were members of the State Legis- 
lature, and John T. Sumney, of Los Angeles, Cal., served a 
term as County Judge of Furnas County, Neb. Many mem- 
bers of the Company filled positions of honor and trust, such as 
Presidents and Cashiers of National Banks and Trust Com- 
panies, Justices of the Peace, Members of City and Borough 
Councils, School Directors, Road Supervisors, etc., but want 
of space forbids any further report. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY H 337 



A SKETCH OF COMPANY H, ONE HUNDRED AND 
FORTIETH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS. 

By Harry J. Boyde, Beaver Pa. 

Though triumphs were to generals due, 

Crowns were reserved to grace the soldiers, too. 

— Pope. 

It was in August, 1862, that a company of men, which 
was to be known in the future as Company H, One Hundred 
and Fortieth Pennsylvania, assembled in the village of Hooks- 
town, Beaver County, Penna., and were enrolled and finally 
mustered into the service of the Government as volunteer 
soldiers to serve for three years or during the war, which was 
then being waged between the North and the South. 

Abraham Lincoln had issued his proclamation calling 
for 300,000 men and this Company was the response of the 
little village above named, and the surrounding townships of 
Greene, Hanover and Raccoon. 

The Company, at the time of its organization, had 100 
men on its roll, this number being increased from time to time 
during the progress of the war, when at its close we find the 
names of 133 as having been connected with its membership. 

The general characteristics of its membership are worthy 
of note, in that of the 133 connected with it, over 100 were 
farmers, averaging at the time of enlistment, a little under 
24 years of age. 

Again, having been born and reared upon the farm, they 
were particularly well fitted, physically, to endure the toil and 
fatigue incident to long marches through heat and cold, sun- 
shine and rain, mud and dust, the sleepless nights on the 
skirmish and picket line and shock of battle. 

Further, life on the farm had not only fitted them physic- 
ally but it had also trained them to think, a trait which dis- 



338 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

tinguished the American volunteer soldier, and made him the 
superior of any soldier the world has ever known. He could 
and did take the initiative and fight without his commanding 
officers as well as with them. 

Above all they were, with but few exceptions. Christian 
men. They were, as a rule, the offspring- of Scotch-Irish 
fathers and mothers who feared God and to whom the relig- 
ious training - of the child was as of much importance as tilling 
the farm. Consequently there went out from these homes 
men and women of strong Christian character, well fitted for 
coping with the responsibilities and vicissitudes of life. Their 
characters were founded upon the teachings of the Bible and 
their wits sharpened by many a weary struggle with the West- 
minster Confession of Faith and painful recitations of the 
Longer and Shorter Catechisms. "Many a victory was prac- 
tically won before the war by reason of this superior home 
training." 

The character of the community from which these men 
came may be judged by the fact that from its small population 
there has gone out in the past 65 years a number of ministers 
of the gospel, physicians, lawyers and teachers that is equalled 
by few other communities in the United States. Many of 
them became eminent in their professions. 

What we say of this Company, can as truthfully be said 
of the entire Regiment and we find it to have been composed 
of sturdy, independent men, brave and patient in character, 
calm and even cheerful amid hardship and danger, giving to 
the Nation and the World, undying proof of the pride, courage 
and devotion of the American volunteer, a class of men who 
have ever been the backbone of our country, and often in 
her story of war and struggle have enabled her to speak with 
her enemies in the gate. 

Does not the above explain why the corps, division and 
brigade commanders were so prone to impose the most per- 
ilous duties upon us? They knew the Regiment could be 
trusted and they were never deceived. The fearful losses sus- 
tained bear mute and eloquent testimony to this, the losses of 
this Company alone being 20 killed and 50 wounded. Eight 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY 11 

of the wounded men died on the field or in the hospital, two 
died in Confederate prisons, four were missing in action and 
seven of our wounded comrades suffered the loss of an arm 
or leg. 

The survivors of the Company have ever had reason to 
be proud of its record and point with a pardonable pride to 
the fact that we did not have a single deserter from our 
ranks. 

Having been mustered into the service with Companies 
F and I in Beaver, the Companies F, Jf and I, being known 
as the Beaver County Companies, we were hurried to Harris- 
burg and with Companies from Washington, Greene and 
Mercer Counties there assembled, a regimental organization 
was affected, and thus became the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. 

An election of officers for the Company resulted in the 
choice of Rev. Marcus Ormond for Captain, Austin Miller. 
First Lieutenant and Samuel Campbell, Second Lieutenant, 
with the regular complement of Sergeants and Corporals. 
Here we were armed and clothed, the clothing being in most 
cases a misfit, and our guns an old antiquated pattern, more 
dangerous to the man behind them than to the one in front. 
By those armed with modern equipment, we were spoken of 
as "the walking artillery." 

The morning of September ioth found us on our way to 
Parkton, Md., where we guarded the Northern Central Rail- 
road, a duty which demanded constant vigilance to prevent 
attack from straggling bands of the enemy, who sought to 
destroy the road. Many pleasant memories are connected 
with Camp Seward at this place which only lack of space 
prevents us from recording. While here, we lost two of our 
number, viz. : William H. Uncapher, who was taken ill, his 
sickness developing eventually into typhoid fever, of which he 
died in Baltimore, Md. Also William O. Custer, who was 
discharged by reason of ill health. 

While at Parkton our Captain, Marcus Ormond, resigned 
and was commissioned as Chaplain of the Regiment. This 
caused an election to be held by the Company to fill the 



340 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

vacancy thus created, and resulted in the election of Samuel 
Campbell as Captain; Austin Miller, First Lieutenant, and 
John B. Vance, Second Lieutenant. The election was held 
by virtue of an order issued by Colonel Roberts after a 
petition had been presented to him praying that such election 
might be held, and is thus set forth to correct a misunder- 
standing as to the matter, which has existed for some years. 
The Company rightly preferred electing from their own num- 
ber rather than have one or more commissioned to lead them 
of whom they knew nothing. It also estopped some who were 
too dainty to take their chances with us as high privates in 
the rear rank. 

Being new to the service while at Parkton we experi- 
enced, as we thought, some hardships. Nevertheless, like 
"Jeshuran, we waxed fat and kicked." The right to kick and 
criticise was the peculiar privilege of the private soldier and 
not to be interferred with. If, what we experienced at Park- 
ton, could be spoken of as hardship, what about the trip from 
there to Falmouth, Va. ? This experience we will always 
remember. In our then raw condition, we thought of it and 
spoke of it as entirely uncalled for. Nevertheless, it was only 
a taste of what was to come. We were, soon after our arrival 
at Falmouth, comfortably housed in winter quarters and spent 
the winter in the performance of duties incident to the life 
of the soldier, such as daily drills, picket duty along the banks 
of the Rappahannock, etc. The exposure connected with this 
service soon began to show its effect upon those who were 
not physically qualified to meet it, and resulted while here in 
the loss of seven of our number, who were discharged and 
sent home. 

The writer feels at this point that for him to go into 
details of dates, anything like descriptions of our marches 
and various engagements will be but a repitition of what the 
Regimental Historian has already written. Suffice it then to 
say that Company H was in all of the engagements in which 
the Regiment took part and performed its duty with credit to 
itself and the satisfaction of the Regimental and Company 
officers. 




\Ym. P.. Thornberg, ist Serg. Co. H. Walter M. Lawrence, 2nd Lieut. Co. H. 

Jos. W. Lawrence, Hospital Steward Co. H. James M. D. Mitchell, Serg. Co. H. 

Jos. Moody, Serg. Color Guard, Co. II. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY H 341 

Lack of space also forbids the recording of a memento 
of each member of the Company much as we wish to so do. 
The muster roll will, however, give the name of each with 
some data. But in order that the names of those who were 
killed, wounded and missing may be given some prominence, 
the writer has prepared the following table. This has been 
carefully examined and approved by a number of the survivors 
and we feel assured of its accuracy, although it does differ 
in some particulars with other extant records. 

Names of the killed, wounded and missing or taken 
prisoners, viz : 

At Chancellorsville — Wounded, Joseph Calhoun, Wil- 
liam M. Carothers. 

At Gettysburg — Wounded, Samuel Campbell, Arthur 
Shields, Thomas J. Miller, George Summerville, Gibson 
Hood, David M. Minesinger, John B. Vance, William A. 
Brunton, Charles McCoy, Hugh Q. Adams, John Purdy. 

At Gettysburg — Killed and died of wounds — Alexander 
Greer, Johnson Berlin, James Taggart, Henry Ewing, Wil- 
liam Conlin, John Blackmore, James McC. Phillips, Samuel 
W. Barnes, Thomas N. Thornburg, John C. Gibb. 

At Gettysburg — Missing in action, Washington Mc- 
Henry. 

At Gettysburg — Taken prisoner, Jacob R. Fleegel, David 
R. Whitehill. 

At Bristoe Station — Wounded, James D. Babb. 

At Bristoe Station — Taken prisoner, James H. Beal, 
and died in Libby prison. 

At Mine Run — Wounded, Addison Lance. 

At Wilderness — Wounded, William Ewing, George W. 
Shindless, Samuel Minesinger, Charles McCoy. 

At Wilderness — Captured, Gabriel Miller, and died in 
Saulsbury prison. 

At Spottsylvania — Wounded, John B. Vance, William 
Ewing, Samuel W. Byers, Gibson Hood, Henry Keifer, John 
Purdy, Junius M. Strouss, William Yolton, George Cain, 
Samuel Torrence, Addison Lance, Thomas Bryerly, David 
B. Coffee, John W. Hall, Charles McCoy, James P. Smart, 
William Wherry, John Yolton, Jasper Whims. 

At Spottsylvania — Killed and died of wounds, James 
McD. Mitchell, William H. McCreery, Alexander Ewing, 
William M. Herron, Robert G. Savage, Thomas J. Foster. 



342 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

At Spottsylvania — Missing in action, Hezekiah Swaney, 
George Fox, William Purdy. 

At Totopotomy Creek — Wounded, James Cameron, 
Robert Hall. 

At Totopotomy Creek — Died of wounds, Stewart 
Campbell. 

At Cold Harbor — Wounded, William B. Thornburg. 

At Petersburg — Wounded, Samuel Campbell, Robert 
Hall, Silas D. Lockhart, Shafer Dever, James M. Lutton, 
William B. Thornburg. 

At Petersburg— Killed, William Metz. 

At Petersburg — Died of wound, Robert Hutchinson. 

At Petersburg — Taken prisoner, John Mahoney. 

At Deep Bottom — Died of wound, Jacob R. Fleegel. 

At Hatchers Run — Wounded, Joseph Calhoun, Joshua 
Whims, David G. Scott, John Nickle. 

At Hatchers Run — Killed and died of wounds, David 
R. Whitehill, Thomas F. Thornburg, Junius Strouss, Richard 
M. Crouse. 

At Farmville — Killed and died of wounds, Samuel S. 
Kerr, David Kiefer, Abraham Funkhouser. 

At Farmville — Taken prisoner, Garrett Standish, James 
Hood, James H. Melvin, William B. Thornburg, Samuel 
Minesinger. 

Died of disease during the service, Thomas E. Moore, 
James Miller, William H. Uncapher. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY H 343 

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9 



30 5 -a 

M £ H 

Chancellorsville 2 

Gettysburg 10 11 2 

Bristoe Station 1 1 

Mine Run 1 

Wilderness 4 1 

Spottsylvania 6 19 

Totopotomy Creek 1 2 

Cold Harbor 1 

Petersburg 2 6 1 

Deep Bottom 1 

Hatchers Run 4 4 

Farmville 3 5 



■*■ 5 .5 9 



Totals 28 50 10 2 4 3 

The reader can well afford to pause and consider tht 
meaning of such a sacrifice of life and limb, with the attendant 
suffering. It was the contribution of this Company to the 
price paid for the civil and religious liberty we now enjoy. 
Some were killed instantly, some died a lingering death after 
much suffering and some were called upon to die in Southern 
prisons. 

Some, in a measure, recovered from their wounds, but 
only to suffer therefrom as long as they lived. This is notably 
so in the case of John W. Hall, still living, who has hardly 
known a day without pain since being wounded at Spottsyl- 
vania, May 12, 1864. This was equally true of many others. 

As for those who lost an arm or leg, it is well worthy 
of note how each one rose superior to such a handicap and 
how well they succeeded in after life. 

It was but a small fraction of our original number who 



344 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

were in line at Appomattox and after the surrender started 
back on the long march to Washington, thence down Penn- 
sylvania Avenue in the Grand Review. How proud we felt 
going down the Avenue, the sidewalks lined with cheering 
thousands, crying out, "God bless you" and "Well done." 
While this was appreciated, yet our hearts were saddened as 
we thought of those who had fallen. We wished they could 
have been with us, but it had been decreed otherwise. 

Our prevailing thought was, our work as soldiers is 
finished and as the result God reigns and the Government 
lives. Also we are going home. Home to father and mother, 
to wife and children, to sweethearts, and not a few of us had 
the latter. 

It appears to have been thought by some, as the war drew 
to a close, that there would be great danger in turning so 
large a number of men as composed our armies into the 
various communities of the North. Never was a fear so 
groundless. The discharge from the army was but putting 
back into the ordinary walks of life, men of character and as 
such nobly refuted the thought. Those who may have lived 
vicious lives are but a negligible quantity. Note how it was 
with our Company. Captain Samuel Campbell, like Cincin- 
natus, was found at the plow when he enlisted and to it he 
returned. Heaven bless him. 

Lieutenant Vance became a salesman, while Lieutenant 
Lance returned to the farm. Lieutenant Lawrence filled an 
important position in the Treasury Department at Washing- 
ton, D. C. These thus named passed away years ago. 

The familiar voice of Sergeant Shields was heard in our 
Courts until the day of his death crying Oyez, Oyez, etc.. 
a position he filled with great dignity. Joseph Lawrence. 
John S. Bryan, Frank D. Kerr and William Morrison became 
physicians, in which calling the two first named especially 
distinguished themselves. The first man of our number to 
receive a wound was Joseph Calhoun. He died August 6. 
191 1, after a service of over forty years as minister of the 
Gospel in the U. P. Church, in Iowa. As Doctor Calhoun, 
he was honored and loved by a large number of acquaintances. 




Alex. L. McKibbin, Co. II. N. B. Evans, Corporal Co. D. 

Isaiah L. Collins, Sergt. Co. E. Harry j. Boyde, •',,. I[. 

Samuel S. Kerr, Brevet-Major. David K. Whitehill, Co. II. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY H 345 

At his funeral, it was said of him, ''For he was a good man, 
full of the Holy Ghost and faith." 

William G. Cowan, despite a rigid Presbyterian training, 
which did not hurt him, became a minister in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church and accomplished much for his Master. 

James Cameron became an attorney and what should have 
been a bright career was unfortunately cut short. 

As a business man, much above the average, Robert Hall 
will long be remembered in East Liverpool, Ohio, as a man 
of sterling worth and many noble traits of character. 

His brother, John W. Hall, became prominent in the 
religious and business life of the same city, and of it he even- 
tually became Mayor and was "A terror to evil doers and a 
praise to them that do well." 

A word should be said as to John Mahoney the irrepres- 
sible Irishman, the despair of our officers and the burden of 
Orderly Sergeant Shields' life. John felt that the drill and 
manual of arms was useless. He really appeared incapable 
of learning these things. So fresh from the old sod, it was 
difficult to understand his brogue or he us. He was always 
in the thickest of a fight. At Petersburg, he felt the war could 
and should be ended right then and there by making a charge. 
John started, and like Abou Ben Adhem, he led all the rest. 
If we had followed, it would only have been to accompany 
him to Andersonville prison, from which he returned at the 
close of the war. We do not know what became of him. 

A special tribute is due the memory of George Summer- 
ville, a man from the humbler walks of life to which he re- 
turned after three years of efficient service. Mr. Summerville 
was present at every roll call, was in every engagement in 
which we took part, never missed duty on the picket or 
skirmish line, never sick or absent and ever cheerful and 
patient, ready to share his last cracker or blanket with a com- 
rade in need. Although he received a flesh wound in the 
thigh at Gettysburg that would have sent many a man to the 
rear, yet he fought it out and stayed with us. None but 
soldiers of the One Hundred and Fortieth can comprehend 
the meaning of such a record. He died November 30, 1895. 



346 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Peace, peace be on the spot where this patient, brave- 
hearted fellow sleeps. 

And what more shall I say now, for time and lack of 
space would fail me to go into details as to Moody, Purdy, 
Thornburg, McKibben, Melvin, the Whims brothers and 
others. The same spirit that animated them as soldiers con- 
tinued with them as citizens and right nobly have they per- 
formed their part. 

Taps have sounded, lights out, and to-day but twenty- 
eight of our original number survive. As we look in their 
faces we can see that Father Time is not always a hard parent, 
and though he tarries for none of his children, often lays his 
hand lightly upon those who have used him well ; marking 
them inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and spirits 
young and full of vigor, and every wrinkle but a notch in 
the quiet calendar of a well-spent life. 

In a comparatively few years, some one man will be 
spoken of as the sole survivor of Company H. May his end 
be peace. 

Of many of those who have died it can be well said of 
them, "they fought the good fight," and as they appeared 
before the Great Judge, I am sure they heard the welcome 
words "pass in." 

And for those of us who remain may the same words, 
dear reader, that welcomed the saintly Calhoun, as he stood 
at Heavens' Gates, be heard by each one of us. 

"Still o'er these scenes my memory wakes 
And fondly broods with miser care; 
Time but the impression makes, 

As streams their channel deeper wear. 

— Burns. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY I 347 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY I. 

By reason of ill health the one member of this Company 
who was best fitted for writing this sketch, was prevented 
from doing so. Others who were requested to do so, refused 
as they felt they were not qualified for such work. Conse- 
quently the Committee on History of the Regiment took hold 
of the matter and what follows concerning the Company is 
the result of an interview held by a member of the Committee 
— Harry J. Boyde, of Beaver, Pa. — with Mr. James H. 
Springer and Mr. Jacob Fisher. Unfortunately, neither of 
the comrades were able to give much desirable information 
on account of enforced absence from the Company, Mr. 
Springer being in a Confederate prison from July, 1863, t° 
June, 1864, and Mr. Fisher absent on sick leave a greater 
part of the same year. 

We learn from them that the Company was recruited 
in Beaver and other nearby towns and adjoining townships. 
The members were as a class, mechanics with a number from 
the farms, averaging in age about 22 years, the oldest being 
45 years and the youngest 17 years. The number of married 
men in the Company at the time of enlistment is noticeable. 

As a rule they were a sturdy, rugged set of men, well 
fitted physically to meet the requirements of the service upon 
which they were about to enter. Their power to endure was 
tested on many a weary march and their courage on many a 
hard fought field. 

They were mustered into the service August 25, 1862, 
And on September 1st, left Beaver with Companies F and H 
for Harrisburg, the three Companies, viz : F, H and I being 
known as the Beaver County Companies. 

When mustered into the service the names of 101 ap- 
peared on the roster of the Company. During the months of 
January, February and March, 1864, nine recruits were added 



348 the one hundred and fortieth regiment 

thus bringing the total enrollment during the three years of 
service up to no. 

At Harrisburg, clothing- was issued and the Company- 
donned the blue and began to feel that they had indeed 
entered the service of Uncle Sam. The clothing gave evi- 
dence that the boys had not been carefully measured and fitted 
by a tailor. It had none of the tight-fitting hobble effect of 
the present day and in most cases, gave ample room for 
expansion in every direction. Nevertheless, a careful, if not 
trained use of scissors, needles and thread, enabled them to 
be eventually presentable. The addition of a hat and epaulets 
to the clothing increased the feeling - of pride as each tried to 
recognize himself in this completed outfit. Pride, however, 
goes before a fall and this came when those Belgian rifles. 
with the immense sword bayonets, were loaded upon the boys. 
The Regiment at once became the butt of the older organiza- 
tions who were armed with the then modern Springfield rifle. 
The Belgian rifle was an old out-of-date pattern, equally 
dangerous at either end. weighty and unwieldy. The weight 
of these rifles has been variously estimated and if given here 
would put the person responsible for the statement in the 
Ananias class. As a result of a review held at Falmouth. Va., 
we got rid of them on this wise. General Sumner, as he 
rode past our line, noticed them and not only then and there 
condemned them, but gave orders that we should be armed 
with Springfield rifles. This order was carried out soon 
thereafter, not only to the relief of the Regiment, but also 
to General Zook, who had been considerably exercised over 
the fact of being in command of men who were armed with 
what he called "shoulder artillery." 

After having been mustered in, the Company elected 
James Darragh, Captain; William McCallister, First Lieuten- 
ant and George A. Shallenberger, Second Lieutenant, at the 
same time electing the required number of sergeants and 
corporals. While at Harrisburg, the Beaver County Battalion 
with seven other companies from the counties of Washington, 
Greene and Mercer, were consolidated into a Regiment desig- 




Jas. II. Springer, ist Sergt. Co. A. David W. Scott, ist Sergt. Co. A. 

James Anderson, Co. F. Capt. Geo. A. Shallenberger, Co. I. 

James K. P. Magill, Corp. Co. K. Wm. P. McMasters, Sergt. Co. E. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY I 349 

nated as the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volun- 
teer Infantry. 

The Regimental organization was then completed by the 
election of Richard P. Roberts, as Colonel; John Fraser, as 
Lieutenant-Colonel; Thomas B. Rogers, as Major, and Wil- 
liam S. Shallenberger, as Adjutant. This election was held 
by the commissioned officers of the different companies of the 
Regiment. 

Within a year, Captain James Darragh had been dis- 
charged from the service by reason of sickness and Lieuten- 
ant George A. Shallenberger had been promoted to the rank 
of Captain and A. Q. M. U. S. Volunteers. The vacancies 
thus created, were filled by the promotion of Lieutenant Mc- 
Callister as Captain; Sergeant Thomas C. Nicholson becom- 
ing First Lieutenant, and Sergeant Louis R. Darragh, Sec- 
ond Lieutenant. 

During the last year of the war, Captain McCallister 
served on the Brigade Staff, Lieutenant Nicholson resigned, 
and Lieutenant Darragh was absent on account of wound?, 
thus leaving the Company without an officer of their own 
number as no promotions were made. Frequently the Com- 
pany was in charge of First Sergeant James H. Springer, 
who is still living, the commissioned officers having long 
since passed away. 

The Company took part in all the movements and battles 
in which the Regiment participated. 

The greatest loss sustained in any one battle was at Get- 
tysburg and is noticeable by reason of the number who were 
captured, of whom so many died in Confederate prisons, the 
result of exposure and insufficient food. 

While lying upon the field, severely wounded, a ball hav- 
ing passed through both jaws, Sergeant David W. Scott was 
taken prisoner and removed to a stone house back of the 
Emmittsburg pike, where he was kept three days receiving 
no attention. His suffering was greatly intensified for want 
of water. The nature of his wound prevented his asking the 
guards for it. He finally made known his need by writing, 
but to his surprise not one of the guard could read. Fortu- 



350 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

natcly, a Confederate was found who could read and water 
was given him. 

The Confederates on retreating-, left him with others of 
our wounded whom they had held as prisoners. Sergeant 
Scott's case is but one of many and is cited here as an 
illustration of the suffering endured by our wounded who 
had fallen into the hands of the enemy. 

As Sergeant Springer was leaving the field he saw his 
friend Sergeant Harsha, of Company F, in a helpless con- 
dition from a wound which proved to be mortal. As it was 
out of the question to get him off the field, he paused to make 
him as comfortable as possible, and in so doing, was taken 
prisoner. He was sent to Belle Island, Va., where he re- 
mained for over a year. No doubt many incidents connected 
with Gettysburg and other engagements in which the Com- 
pany took part, and all worth recording, could have been 
obtained, could it have been possible to have gathered together 
other survivors. Being without such data, we pass on to the 
opening of the Wilderness Campaign, at which time we find, 
from the best information obtainable, that the Company had 
on its roll as present for duty, about 55 men. This shows 
a loss of exactly one-half of the entire membership of the 
Company and was caused by death, wounds, captures, sickness 
and discharges from the service. The deaths alone to this 
time being 27. 

The engagements in The Wilderness and on to the last 
battle at Farmville, Va., all exacted their toll, which, in the 
aggregate, amounted to 10 killed; 3 died of wounds, 15 
wounded and 3 taken prisoner. It is notable that a total of 
37 were claimed by death alone during the entire time of 
service, seven of these deaths resulting from disease. Such 
is war and may the day speedily come when the Nations will 
learn war no more. 

It is difficult to state the exact number present for duty 
after Lee's surrender, as some had no doubt been returned 
to duty who had been absent by reason of wounds received 
in other and earlier engagements. The records of the War 
Department show, however, that at the date of muster out, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPA, VI 351 

Company I had a Captain — Wm. McCallister — a First Lieu 
tenant, 4 Sergeants, 6 Corporals, 2 Musicians and 17 private 
a total of 31. 

An incident has just come to the writer's knowledge 
from one of the members of the Company who overheard 
General Miles say to our Brigade Commander at Reams Sta- 
tion, "Get me a Regiment ready, quick." In a few minutes 
the General was back and asked if the Regiment was ready. 
"Yes, there it stands." Miles seeing it says, "not that Regi- 
ment; give me the One Hundred and Fortieth; the duty to 
be performed is too important to be trusted to others." This 
was indeed high praise, when coming from such a source, 
and is but one of a number of instances in which the efficiency 
of the Regiment was recognized. The sons and daughters of 
these men can always remember with commendable pr 
that their fathers belonged to the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania. 

Having been mustered out of the service, they returned 
to their homes and at once entered into the activities of life. 
How well they succeeded can be attested by their neighbor 
in the communities in which they have lived. John D. Irons 
entered the ministry of the United Presbyterian Church and 
for some years was president of one of the seminaries of that 
denomination at Xenia, Ohio. He is now living in retirement 
much enfeebled by ill health. During the war he was known 
as Sergeant Irons. The degree of D.D. was conferred upon 
him some years ago so that now it is Doctor Irons, if you 
please. 

The roll kept by the Secretary of the Regimental organi- 
zation shows the names of twenty-three members of the 
Company as yet living this 17th day of August, 19 12. The 
names of ten others appear on the roll of whom nothing is 
known with the probability that the most of them are dead. 

What has thus been written in the foregoing is but a 
mere outline of the story of the Company and should have 
been prepared by some one fully acquainted with the every- 
day life of its members while in the field and who had kept 
in touch with them after their return home. That it was 



352 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

not is regretted, for had it been so done, many important and 
valuable details could have been put in this form and thus 
preserved for the future. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY K 35.3 



HISTORY OF COMPANY K.* 

Company K was recruited during the month of August, 
1862, in Washington County, Pa., under the call for 300,000 
volunteers. It was principally made up of young men from 
the strenuous walks of life, out of good Christian homes, 
largely intelligent sons of husbandry, and not a few having 
been or being hard-working students in academy, college or 
theological seminary, thus possessing the fundamental qualifi- 
cations for good military service. 

Probably it had as small a ratio of men unfit for such 
service as any called out to do duty in the sixties. A few there 
were, of course, who were carried in by the tide of excitement 
or selfish interest, without much consideration, but most of 
its members entered through due reflection, true courage and 
definite conviction. 

Company K, as it was designated after its consolidation 
with other companies into a regiment, was of a composite 
nature, formed of squads and individuals from different parts 
of the county, though the largest constituency was from the 
northwestern part, with Cross Creek as the center, and in 
consequence of this was frequently called the Cross Creek 
Company. 

William A. F. Stockton, son of the Rev. Dr. John 
Stockton, pastor of Cross Creek Presbyterian Church, was 
engaged some time in recruiting in this region intent upon 
raising a company. He was assisted by B. F. Powelson, his 
classmate for years, and by others. Meetings were held in 
Cross Creek, Burgettstown, Eldersville, Paris, Condor and 
other places. 

One meeting in Cross Creek village was attended and 

♦Abbreviated and condensed from published history of Company 
K written by the Rev. Benj. F. Powelson, of Boulder, Colorado, under 
the direction of Brevet Captain Alex. Sweeney. 



354 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

addressed by Dr. Wishart and Messrs. A. and David Acheson, 
of Washington, the county seat. 

Twenty-three enlisted from Cross Creek, the first eleven 
being- sworn in by 'Squire Duncan on August 16th. Those 
recruited in Paris, in the extreme northwest section of the 
county, footed up twenty. A squad of seven enlisted in 
Candor, under the supervision of William B. Cook. Seven 
hailed from the neighborhood of Millsboro, while four others 
came in from other places in the eastern part of the county. 
Claysville furnished a squad of nine, and quite a number came 
in from Finley, Morris and Donegal Townships. Alex. 
Sweeney, Jr., had been out in Claysville, West Alexander and 
surrounding regions on a recruiting tour. He and Enoch 
Mounts represented the county seat. 

Those recruited in Cross Creek, Eldersville, Paris and 
Candor or the northwest — fifty-five in number — came together 
on August 20th at Cross Creek village, where a large con- 
course of people assembled and gave them a hearty reception. 
Thence, after taking leave of relatives and friends, they were 
conveyed by neighbors in wagons and other vehicles sixteen 
miles to the county seat. There for a while they went into 
camp, using for quarters the halls of the old fair grounds, now 
the athletic grounds of Washington and Jefferson College. 

Here all the recruits were rendezvoused, and they were 
kindly and patriotically treated by the citizens of Washington, 
who opened their homes and in many ways gave comfort and 
cheer. 

On the 22d of August the formal organization of the 
Company was effected, and ninety-six entered their names on 
the Company roll. An election of officers was held, which 
resulted as follows: 

Captain, William A. F. Stockton ; First Lieutenant, Alex- 
ander Sweeney, Jr. ; Second Lieutenant, William B. Cook. 

The non-commissioned officers were in the main deter- 
mined upon. George W. MeConnell was entered as musician. 
On the completion of these arrangements the members of the 
Company began to assume military airs and were ready for 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY K 355 

orders to go forward to active service. These orders quickly 
came. 

Four other companies, recruited in Washington County, 
were known to be ready for assignment to some regiment. In 
accordance with instructions, the Company broke camp, and 
its ninety-six members were taken in conveyances by way of 
the old turnpike to Camp Distribution, in the Oakland Fair 
Grounds, near Pittsburgh. The journey itself was an ovation, 
and many of the friends and well wishers of the boys accom- 
panied them the whole or part of the way. 

A halt for dinner was made at Canonsburg, where the 
citizens entertained the Company in royal style. Their loyalty 
and enthusiasm had the true ring, for they, too, had a company 
ready to go into the service. This company became Company 
G of the One Hundred and Fortieth, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
and furnished the Lieutenant-Colonel. 

Camp Distribution was reached without mishap and there 
the Company was partially equipped. It was mustered into 
the United States service for three years, or during the war, 
in this camp by Captain Ludington, U. S. A., on the fourth 
day of September, 1862. 

Thence by train over the Pennsylvania Central Railroad 
we were taken to Harrisburg, going into camp (Camp Curtin), 
where we became an integral part of the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers. Here we were fully 
equipped, and the few days of bivouac on the bank of the 
beautiful Susquehanna were spent in the making of us full- 
fledged and fully equipped soldiers in the Union Army. 

Our Regiment was assigned to duty in connection with 
the guarding of the Northern Central Railroad, and to Com- 
pany K was given a section with headquarters at Monkton, 
Md., about six miles south of Parkton Station, the head- 
quarters of the Regiment. 

We had several miles to guard, the chief point being a 
bridge about three miles below Monkton. Our headquarters 
— dubbed "Ambolin Barracks" — consisted of a bunk building 
of two stories, with a shed room attached as officers' quarters 
and a cook house. 



356 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

A flagpole stood in front of the barracks, from which 
"Old Glory" floated gracefully. 

The Sergeants (a train of box cars having been wrecked 
a short time after our arrival, resurrected one which had been 
thrown down an embankment) improvised independent quar- 
ters for themselves near the main building. 

On the 13th of October the non-commissioned officers, 
as appointed by the Captain on the organization of the Com- 
pany, received their certificates. 

The period of duty here covered three months, the Com- 
pany participating in all the regimental drills, inspections, etc., 
marching to and from Parkton on the railroad tracks. 

Nothing occurred while here to mar the good name of 
the Company. The people of the vicinity were kind and con- 
siderate and they respected the members of Company K and 
treated them as gentlemen. The homes and assemblies of 
the people were open to them. 

Many things occurred to render the service here a pleasant 
one. The corn husking and big dinner at Bacon's plantation, 
the barn-floor husking and repast at Quaker Matthews', with 
his many favors to the guard at the lower bridge, and like 
recognitions, were greatly enjoyed by all who were privileged 
to participate. 

The soldier's plain fare was abundantly supplemented by 
the Diffendoffer's meals at from ten cents and upwards, with 
the luscious apple dumplings and peach cobblers and unstinted 
measure of rich cream. Several of us remember, too, very 
gratefully the little church up in the woods and that one east 
of Monkton, whereto occasionally we turned our footsteps. 

Those days of soldiering had much of sunshine in them, 
which lightened materially the burden of a rigorous but useful 
military discipline. 

On the morning of the 10th of December Company K 
bade adieu to Monkton and marched with all its belongings to 
Parkton. Here, in accordance with orders from General 
Wood, we were entrained for Baltimore en route to the front. 

It was with some feeling of regret the Company left 
Monkton, for we had become attached to the place and the 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY K 357 

people; but the prospect of entering into more active and 
stirring scenes of soldier life captivated and filled every one 
with enthusiasm. 

As our train passed through Monkton the hearty cheering 
of the people and soldiers showed how strong had become the 
ties of friendship. 

Our Company shared with "G" a room in the Union 
Relief Association building in Baltimore the night of the 10th. 
We spent the weary hours of the night of the nth crowded 
together in old freight cars which were destitute of arrange- 
ments for heating. The weather was cold and the whole of 
the night was consumed on the way to Washington. 

Company K was in its place as the One Hundred and 
Fortieth marched through a portion of the Capital City with 
flying colors, about 4 P. M. on the 13th, setting out for 
Burnside's army. On the evening of the 20th of December 
we reached the encampment of the First Division of the 
Second Corps, in rear of the town of Falmouth, and from that 
day became a constituent part of the Army of the Potomac. 

In the winter months which we spent in camp near Fal- 
mouth, Company K endured hardships, severities, exposures 
and privations which tested physical endurance to the utmost, 
and in them had a schooling that was to tell in the future good 
record of the Regiment. But there was always a sufficiency of 
spice and source of merriment and good cheer among the boys. 

Receipt of news from friends, substantial tokens of love 
and care in boxes of good things sent by them, camp fire 
chats and musings, little banquets together, sometimes at the 
expense of the scanty income of the soldiers and to the profit 
of the army sutler — all these were "lights among the shadows" 
in our soldier life. 

At Chancellorsville the Company participated in all of 
the five days of action, being more or less under fire the entire 
time. 

"It was a time," writes Corporal Cooke, "in which we 
had several new experiences — lying in front of a battery to 
support it; lying in the woods at night while an occasional 
long-tailed, comet-like shell would shriek over us, while we 



358 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

buried our noses in the dirt and leaves; the wild experience 
of supporting another battery behind it while it seemed that 
all the artillery of the enemy was playing upon it. That 
Sunday artillery duel was the most terrific experience to me 
of the whole war. Yet, strange to say, there were but few 
casualties in Company K worthy of mention." 

During all the battle and marches which followed these 
initial experiences Company K bore an honorable part and 
well sustained the reputation which it had won at the outset 
of its career. 

In the stirring activities of the campaign of 1865 we 
participated throughout the five days of constant struggle, 
crowned with the brilliant dash of General Miles' Division at 
Sutherland Station, which brought about the fall of Richmond. 

The Company had its share also in the experiences con- 
nected with the close pursuit of Lee's Army, in the battles of 
Sailor's Creek and Farmville, in the foraging in line of battle 
as in hot pursuit they passed through a well-stocked plantation 
at Sailor's Creek, and in the distribution of Confederate 
money and other spoils of war in the trains captured at that 
point. In the Farmville conflict Sergeants Ralston and Mc- 
Calmot and Corporal Abe Andrews were taken prisoner and 
held until Lee's surrender. They were asked for, or rather 
ordered to, give up their shoes and other effects. This they 
did in part, when talking and parleying would not avail. 

Ralston, through an officer, secured a pledge for the 
return of his watch at the close of the war, and when released 
hunted up the Johnny who had appropriated it, and on 
demand, the circumstances having been reversed, received it 
back again. 

When the surrender of the Confederate Army took place 
Company K was on the advanced line on the road leading 
into Appomattox Court House from the east, and when 
General Lee rode back through the lines toward Richmond we 
stood in silence, with heads uncovered, as he passed. 

The war practically over, we marched leisurely back with 
the Regiment to Washington, D. C, and took part in the 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COMPANY K 359 

Grand Review, being formally mustered out near Alexandria, 
Va., May 31, 1865. 

Immediately afterward we were ordered to Pittsburgh, 
Pa., for final pay and discharge. 

In view of the changes which had taken place since the 
day of our "muster in" at this place, the joy of our return was 
tempered with sadness, especially as we recalled the names 
of a long list of our comrades who had fallen in the days and 
months of deadly strife, whose faces we should see on earth 
no more. 

Then there were on our roll the names of three commis- 
sioned officers and ninety-three enlisted men. To these were 
added five recruits, making a total enrolment of 101. Twelve 
of the Company were killed in battle, four died of wounds, 
ten of sickness and thirty-seven received wounds in action. 
The number present at the date of muster out was thirty-seven. 

The number of engagements in which the Company par- 
ticipated, including skirmishes and reconnoissances in force, is 
put down at thirty-three. Some of these, however, include 
the almost daily conflicts interspersed with fatiguing night 
marches which took place during General Grant's flanking 
expeditions from the Wilderness to Petersburg. 

During our period of service many had been discharged 
on account of disability. A goodly number also had been 
transferred to other commands and service, some of whom 
made good records for themselves. Many had gone out 
beardless boys, but now returned well-trained men. 

All were eager to quit the service and to return to their 
several avocations to enjoy a blessed reign of peace; to rejoice 
in a nation saved, a Union preserved. 

The songs of farewell were hastily sung and Company K 
became an organization of the past, each man going his own 
way: some never again to look into each other's faces, but a 
tie of comradeship binding all hearts together that no period 
of time can ever break. 



360 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 
COLONEL RICHARD PETIT ROBERTS. 

BY W. S. SHALLENBERGER, FIRST LIEUTENANT AND ADJUTANT. 

Colonel Roberts was born near Frankford Springs, 
Beaver County, Pa., June, 1820, and died on the battlefield 
of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, aged 43 years. He was the son 
of John Roberts; grandson on the father's side, of a soldier 
of the American Revolution, and grandson on the side of 
his mother, Ruth Dugan, of an Indian fighter. He probably 
inherited the soldier spirit and learned from his earliest 
childhood, thrilling stories of heroic service for humanity. 
He was favored in the early years of his education. Frank- 
fort Springs was the seat of an excellent academy and his 
instructors there were Rev. James Sloan and the Hon. 
Thomas Nicholson. Life on his father's farm and the com- 
munity life as well, were such as favored and fostered high 
moral standards. He was a lover of nature and an apt stu- 
dent of men and books. From childhood and earliest man- 
hood, Colonel Roberts was commended for his correct habits 
and for courageous and independent conduct. He studied 
law under N. P. Fetterman, Esq., and during that period, 
taught school several terms. 

In the year 1848, he was admitted to the bar and rose 
steadily in his profession. He was tall, straight, fine fea- 
tured, easily approached, cordial in manner, fluent and force- 
ful in speech, in short he had altogether a pleasing, magnetic 
personality. 

He soon came to be recognized by friends and neighbors 
as a man likely to win high places in professional and public 
life. He was selected by the Attorney-General of Pennsylva- 
nia, as his deputy for the County of Beaver, and when the 
office became elective he was chosen District Attorney at a 
time when the County was of another political persuasion. 
He was married to Miss Caroline Henry, daughter of Hon. 
William Henry, and sister of Major Thos. Henry, of the 
One Hundred and Fortieth, in the year 1851. Three chil- 
dren were born, one of whom, a daughter, Emma, was living, 
a little motherless girl when her father left her for the war. 
She is now the mother of a happy family, and wife of Hon. 
Isaac Harter, a prominent banker of Canton, Ohio. By 
reason of her great kindness to the comrades, she has been 
affectionately named by them, "Daughter of the Regiment." 

When the failure of the Peninsula Campaign became 
apparent, in the early summer of 1862, and the call of Presi- 




AIRS. EMMA ROBERTS HARTER. 

The Daughter of the Regiment. 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 361 

dent Lincoln rang through the North, Colonel Roberts re- 
sponded and announced his readiness to raise a Company. 
He started the work by saying that a squad of seventeen 
men, previously enlisted by the writer, should head the list. 
He spoke in many school-houses and great enthusiasm was 
aroused by his stirring appeals. In a short time three com- 
panies, instead of one, were ready to take the oath, and on 
the 21st of August, 1862, on one of the public squares of 
Beaver, were mustered into the service of the United States. 
Reports from the adjoining County of Washington were to 
the effect that five hundred men had responded to the call, 
headed by Professor John Fraser, a noted member of the 
Faculty of Canonsburg College. Conferences between these 
two leaders, and telegrams between them and Governor 
Curtin, led to the prompt organization of the One Hundred 
and Fortieth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, on 
the 8th of September, at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg. About 
the same time General Lee crossed the Potomac and gave 
occasion for the orders that assigned the One Hundred and 
Fortieth to the command of General Wool, stationed at Bal- 
timore. Four companies, with the Colonel's headquarters, 
were located at Parkton and the remaining companies were 
distributed along the Northern Central Railroad, to guard it 
from hostile demonstration. 

During the three months' guard duty, Colonel Roberts 
gave special attention to Company and Battalion drill and 
the duties of camp life. Dress parade and inspections oc- 
curred regularly. The presence, for a time, of General Lee's 
Army in Maryland, and the sound of the guns at Antietam, 
gave spice to guard duty. On the 20th of December, the 
Regiment reported to the Army of the Potomac, at Fal- 
mouth, Va., and was assigned to the Third Brigade, First 
Division, Second Army Corps, commanded by General S. K. 
Zook, a brave and accomplished soldier. 

The great size of the One Hundred and Fortieth Regi- 
ment, as compared with the other regiments of the Brigade, 
the quick intelligence of its rank and file and the promptness 
and efficiency with which it responded to calls for reports 
and details for various purposes, soon established for 
Colonel Roberts a good reputation at Brigade Headquarters. 
On more than one occasion, General Zook requested the 
Adjutant, when at his headquarters making report, to give 
Colonel Roberts his compliments and thanks for the excellent 
discipline of his command. Officers and men of the Regi- 
ment appreciated the personal attention of Colonel Roberts 



362 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

to their comfort and general welfare in camp. It is the con- 
duct of a commanding officer on the field of battle, however, 
that makes or breaks his reputation as a soldier. 

The First Division, of the Second Corps, performed 
brilliant service at Chancellorsville. It was the fighting 
Division of a fighting Corps, commanded by Hancock, the 
superb soldier. The magnificent conduct of the picket line, 
brilliantly led by Colonel Nelson A. Miles, won for that 
young officer, undying fame and well-deserved promotion. 
Two Companies of the One Hundred and Fortieth served on 
picket and fought with the skill and dauntless courage of 
seasoned troops, reflecting honor on the Regiment and its 
Commander. The eight companies under command of 
Colonel Roberts, met every demand of the most exacting 
test of courage, with steadiness and alacrity. 

The Chancellor House, at about the hour of ten o'clock 
on Sunday morning, May 3rd, was the most critical point 
of the entire line held by the Union Army. It was filled 
with wounded soldiers. The open space on which it stood 
was being shelled by three Rebel batteries preparatory to 
an assault. The capture of that point would imperil the 
safe retreat of our army, behind the new line of earth- 
works, protecting the troops which were massed for return 
to camp across the river, Hancock saw the absolute need 
of holding the crest, in spite of the terrific enfilading fire 
of the batteries. They had already shot to death, or dis- 
abled, every horse attached to the Fifth Maine battery. 
Every officer and man connected with the battery, save one 
Sergeant, had been silenced. The Chancellor House was on 
fire. The early details to remove the wounded were evi- 
dently inadequate. The One Hundred and Fortieth lay prone 
on the ground, supporting the battery, the last and only hope 
of saving the wounded and hauling disabled guns beyond the 
reach of an exultant foe ready for a charge as soon as the 
merciless storm of shot and shell should cease. The bravest 
soldiers were needed in such a crisis and heroic leadership 
to inspire them. Hancock spurred his horse to the very crest, 
in front of where the One Hundred and Fortieth lay, and 
called out, "Is Colonel or Adjutant here?" Rising and salut- 
ing, I replied, "The Adjutant, General." "Detail a Company 
at once," he ordered, "to remove the wounded from the burn- 
ing building and forty men or more to haul off these guns." 
I detailed Company F, under command of Captain Henry, 
to rescue the wounded as it lay to my left, nearest the build- 
ing, and Lieutenant Linton of Company D, with forty men 
to haul off the guns. 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 363 

The coolness of General Hancock was matched by the 
magnificent response of the One Hundred and Fortieth. 
Colonel Roberts made prompt report of the successful and 
heroic services of both details, under the eye of General 
Zook, and yet for forty-five years the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Regiment has waited to see the official report of 
General Zook placed on file in the War Department, fully 
crediting the Regiment with this notable achievement.* 
The sketch of the positions held by his Division at the Chan- 
cellor House and the Reports of General Zook's subordin- 
ates, which General Hancock states were forwarded to the 
War Department, in connection with his report, have not 
yet reached the files. They would no doubt correct still 
more fully the injustice done the One Hundred and Fortieth 
all these years if they could be found. 

The Chancellorsville Campaign was one that exhausted 
the nervous energy of officers and men. Colonel Roberts 
suffered from a low malarial fever, and, on the advice of 
the surgeons, sought recovery on sick leave. When word 
reached him of the march of General Lee's Army northward, 
with intent to cross into Maryland, he quickly resolved that 
he would return to his place of duty, at the head of his 
Regiment, or fail in the attempt. It proved to be a long, 
hard journey, including the use of a canoe from the city 
of Washington to Edward's Ferry and a walk of thirty 
miles before he overtook the Regiment, at Uniontown, Md., 
on the 30th of June. Physicians and friends in Washington 
had advised that he take hopsital treatment but he said, 
"No" — The result was one of many revelations during the 
war, of the power of the will to dominate and subdue physi- 
cal weakness and disease. He expressed himself as delighted 
to assume command and felt stronger than when he left home, 
although any one could see that he was far from being a 
well man. On the following day, July 1st, continuing with 
short intervals for rest, the march to the battlefield was one 
of the most exhausting ever experienced. The sun was hot, 
roads dusty and blocked at times with artillery, hastening 
to the front. The boom of cannon was heard and a desper- 
ate battle was reported in progress. Wagons were going 
to the rear. The death of General Reynolds was announced 
in the evening. On, on. through the night, the First Divi- 
sion marched. Zook's Brigade then the rear guard of the 

t 

*See "Diary of a Young Army Officer," Lieut. J. M. Favill, 1908, 
page 232. and preface. 



364 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Corps, steadily marched, until a halt was called at 2 A. M. 
for a rest. In two hours the march was resumed and the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, led by Colonel Rob- 
erts, found a place in line of battle and stacked arms at nine 
o'clock on the morning of July 2nd. 

Then it was, while on reserve, in sight of the enemy's 
line of battle, prone on the grass, the One Hundred and 
Fortieth rested, lunched and napped, for probably six hours 
of that eventful day. The Colonel talked freely with the 
writer. The tenderness of his heart exacted a pledge that 
the Adjutant, who had been so close to him, would be a 
life-long friend to the little, motherless daughter he loved 
so well. He was calm and confident of the final success of 
our armies, but evidently realized the sacrifice of life that 
victory involved, and was resolved to lead where others 
dared follow. The hour came for him and for his Regiment, 
between six and seven o'clock in the evening. The battle 
scene need not be retold. Colonel Roberts was a part of it, 
and in the fore-front, at every moment. He knew no fear. 
He was alert and self-possessed but impatient to lead the 
great body of men into line of battle. They overlapped the 
gallant battalion, with the right of which the One Hundred 
and Fortieth was to connect. Steadily and rapidly we filed 
to the right and at length reached the crest of the hill, 
faced the foe, loaded and fired at will and closed ranks, torn 
open by savage volleys of musketry and screaming shells. 
Looking toward the peach orchard we saw our right exposed 
and the enemy threatening our flank and rear. Change 
front by the right flank was the order. Colonel Roberts 
sprang to the front of the right company, to lead in person, 
when he fell with a bullet through his heart. He was in com- 
mand of the Brigade when he gave up his life that the 
Nation might live. General Zook had previously fallen and 
Roberts, the senior Colonel was his successor. Tenderly, 
loving hands carried the body a few rods to the rear and 
the battle line maintained its integrity. Men fall. The ranks 
close. Officers cease to command and intelligent volunteer 
soldiery fight equally well without specific orders at a time 
and place like that. 

For a short time the body of our beloved Colonel lay 
between the armies. When recovered the fine uniform he 
wore, and the elegant sword and belt presented to him by 
the citizens of Beaver, were missing. All that was mortal 
was laid to rest in the beautiful cemetery at Beaver, on the 
17th day of July, 1863. A great company of his fellow 




BREVET BRIG.-GEN. JOHN I'K \si K. 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 365 

citizens attended the funeral ceremonies and testified to the 
place he held in the esteem of his countrymen. Within the 
brief space of ten months from the day on which he left 
his home, to begin the life of a soldier, he was crowned a 
hero in the spirit world. Tested as a soldier on two of the 
great battlefields of the century, he had acquitted himself 
nobly. He loved his home, his country and his God. 

In the light of history, death could not have come to 
him under circumstances more highly honorable. In giving 
his life he saved the lives of friends and foes as well. 

To overcome a foe of equal strength is warlike. To 
overcome the enmity that breeds the foe is God-like. The 
Civil War was a stupendous price to pay but the blood of its 
martyrs has been the seed of the greatest harvest of peace 
and prosperity the world ever knew. 



BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOHN FRASER. 

The One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment v/as honored 
in having for its Lieutenant-Colonel and, after Gettysburg, 
its Colonel, one of the ablest scholars and most distinguished 
educators of his day, west of the Alleghenies. 

When the war broke out he was known far and wide as 
the brilliant and enthusiastic Professor of Mathematics and 
Astronomy of Jefferson College, an institution which was 
well known in the South, and from which many young men 
of the Southern States had been graduated. 

Born in Scotland, John Fraser availed himself in early 
life of the advantages of two of the most renowned universi- 
ties of his native land, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. 

From the last-named institution he was graduated in 
1844 and won, over some very able competitors, the Hutton- 
ian Prize in mathematics, a prize which was offered only 
once in ten years. 

In the classroom he was — as one has put it — "quick of 
apprehension, clear in thought and capable of leading his 
students to clearness; he was skilful in questioning, giving 
equal chance to all, helpful to those who needed help, and 
cheering and inspiring by deriving manifest gratification 
from successful work." 

Abounding in information in every domain of literature, 
history and science, he frequently varied the monotony of 
classroom work by brief lectures on practical themes, rising 
ofttimes on his tiptoes to the highest flight of eloquence and 
sublimity of thought. 



366 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

As one who knew him well has expressed it: "It was a 
wonderful treat, often enjoyed, when the professor would 
lay down his work and, addressing us as young gentlemen, 
would launch out in a lecture, filling the hour with the elo- 
quence of a great soul awake and on tire. 

"Sometimes his thoughts were as a knife of keenest 
edge, cutting its way through difficulties, and, again, radiant 
and joyous as the expression of a life whose experiences 
were Elysian. Sometimes he would lead us out in the stern 
lines of duty and the essentials of clean manhood, when 
wrong and meanness and shystcring would get their indig- 
nant dues; sometimes along the paths of human industry, 
where men throwing off the ancient curse are at work sub- 
duing the physical forces and mind is winning the mastery; 
again, among the creations of art, where imagination brings 
forth ideals and the touch of human genius gives them a local 
habitation and a name." It was indeed the privilege of a 
lifetime to hear him on such themes. 

Professor Fraser, as his students knew him also, was a 
man of prayer, sensitive to all good influences and bold in his 
advocacy of the central truths of the gospel of Christ. 

When, at the close of the summer session of 1862, this 
versatile and greatly beloved professor, who had probably 
taught more famous Pennsylvanians than any other teacher 
in the State, announced his intention to give up his chair at 
the college and enter the service of his adopted country, 
there was a quick response to his appeal from young men 
in the college and the neighborhood around, who counted 
it a privilege to go forth under his leadership. 

The writer can still remember the last hour in his class- 
room, when the little professor drew himself up to his full 
height and said in effect : "Young gentlemen — This is our 
last hour of recitation together. The country needs strong 
and brave defenders, and since I am sound in wind and limb, 
I see no good reason why I should not enroll myself with 
them. After the exercises of Commencement Day I shall 
make the attempt to enlist a company from this town and 
its vicinity." In the thrill of excitement which followed 
these words, there were many who then and there made the 
resolve to cast in their lot with him as a band of sworn de- 
fenders of the country and its flag. 

The following account from the Washington Reporter. 
of August 21, 1862, is interesting as showing the dominant 
impulse of the hour, and the reach of the appeal which was 
made to the homes of Canonsburg and its environs: 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 367 

"Recruiting at Canonsbuk<;. 

"The Canonsburg Brown Infantry, commanded by Cap- 
tain John Fraser, Professor of Mathematics in Jefferson 
College, is ready to march. The Professor commenced re- 
cruiting on Monday, the nth inst., and before the close of the 
same week, he reports his command ready for marching. 
This is unprecedented in the recruiting line, especially if we 
take into consideration that this is the third company re- 
cruited from Canonsburg and the country around, for the 
three years' service. The first company that went out (the 
Jefferson Guards, Captain McDaniel) contained a large num- 
ber of students, as did the Ellsworth Cadets, Captain Mur- 
phy. Captain Fraser's company is recruited from the very 
best men of the town and vicinity, and under their popular 
and energetic commander, will make their mark. There is 
one very notable fact connected with the volunteering that 
we think will not be surpassed by the number of population 
anywhere. The following families send forty-seven sons to 
the Union Army : 

"John Gaston, 4; Thomas Jackson, 4; James Ryan, 4; 
Harmon McPeck, 4; Samuel L. Hughes, 3; Samuel Stewart, 
3; William Smith, 3; John Paxton, 3; Dr. Z. G. Stewart, 3; 
Mrs. Hallis, 3; James Coleman, 3; John Bradv, 2; Hugh 
Huston, 2; S. R. Cook, 2; W. H. McNary, 2; W. Black, 2. 

"Although Professor Fraser leaves with his Company, 
there yet has been no arrangements made to fill his place in 
the college during his absence. M'D." 

William H. H. Bingham, better known to this genera- 
tion as General H. H. Bingham— the late "Father of the 
House" — who had just received his diploma from the Col- 
lege, was an active assistant in recruiting the company, and 
on the completion of its enrollment, was made its First Lieu- 
tenant. 

On the organization of the Regiment, Captain Fraser 
was made Lieutenant-Colonel. He succeeded to the command 
of the Regiment, and, for a time, of the Brigade, also, when 
Colonel Roberts fell with a mortal wound at Gettysburg. 

His commission as Colonel bears the date of July 4, 
1863. He was slightly wounded in the battle of the Wilder- 
ness, and in the charge at Spottsylvania Court House, May 
12, 1864, received another wound which, for a time, unfitted 
him for active service. During the temporary absence of the 
ranking officer, he was assigned to the command of the Sec- 
ond Brigade, and in the month of June, 1864, was placed in 
command of the Fourth Brigade of the Division. The next 



368 THE ONE HLXDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

day, while attempting to rally his troops, who had been out- 
flanked in the midst of a dense woods by the withdrawal of 
other forces, Colonel Fraser was taken prisoner. 

In referring to this event, his successor in command, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Win. Glenning, of the Sixty-fourth New 
York Volunteers, says: 

"On the 22d we advanced a mile through a dense woods, 
and with the remainder of the Division, was attacked and 
pressed back to the breastworks, losing a large number of 
prisoners, among them the gallant commandant, Colonel 
Fraser, One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers." 

At Gettysburg, where as Lieutenant-Colonel, he brought 
off Zook's Brigade, at Bristol Station, at Spottsylvania, Mine 
Run and Petersburg, Colonel received special mention for 
bravery and efficiency from his superior officer. 

A well-deserved tribute of appreciation is also on record 
in the War Department, in the form of a request from Gen- 
eral Nelson A. Miles to the Adjutant-General of the Second 
Corps, to the effect that efforts be made to effect his exchange. 
In this communication he is described as "a very valuable 
officer, captured. June 22, 1864, while in command of the 
Fourth Brigade, and now confined at Charleston, South 
Carolina." 

Elsewhere General Miles mentions him by name as one 
of the officers of his command who contributed largely to his 
own success as Commander of the First Division. 

The above-mentioned communication, asking for special 
efforts to secure Colonel Fraser's exchange, was dated No- 
vember 22, 1864. He was not released, however, until several 
months later. He returned to the Union Army on the 15th 
of April, and, with the rank of Brevet Brigadier-General — a 
well deserved honor — was assigned to the command of the 
First Brigade. He was mustered out with his Regiment on 
the 31st of May. 1865. 

Colonel Fraser's first experience as a captive was in 
Libby Prison. At a later period he was removed to Macon, 
Georgia, and finally to Charleston, South Carolina, where he 
and his associates of the "prison pen" were placed by order 
of the Confederate Government, under the guns of the Union 
bombarding fleet. 

During his confinement in Confederate prisons, the ex- 
uberant spirits and wholesome humor, characteristic of the 
man, kept him from sinking down or yielding to the depress- 
ing influences about him. With undaunted courage, he stood 
by the cause he had espoused, and found the best preventive 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 369 

against despondency in cheering up others, in ministering to 
the sick, in teaching his associates how to make the best use 
of the miserable food served out them; and, above all, in 
providing mental entertainment and diversion in a course of 
lectures on literature, history or philosophy. 

"His lectures," as one has put it, "to the prisoners of 
Roper Hospital, on Shakespeare, a volume of which had, by 
some means, been secured, standing on a pile of ashes, bare- 
headed and barefooted, and with no clothing but a ragged 
shirt and torn pantaloons, will never be forgotten by those 
who listened to him." 

At the close of the war, or soon after, General Frascr 
accepted a professorship in the State Agricultural College, at 
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and subsequently became its Presi- 
dent for two years. Accepting an invitation at the close of 
this period to become the Chancellor of the University of 
Kansas, he gave to that institution several years of efficient 
service. He afterward filled a term as State Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, and it is said that the organization of 
the excellent School System of Kansas was largely the work 
of his methodical and resourceful mind. 

While a resident of that State, General Fraser was united 
in marriage to a lady of sympathetic tastes and eminent liter- 
ary acquirements with whom he enjoyed the comforts and 
amenities of a happy, hospitable home. 

At a date unknown to the writer, General Fraser re- 
ceived the honorary title of Doctor of Laws. 

In the spring of 1887, he accepted a professorship ten- 
dered him by the trustees of the Western University, at Pitts- 
burg, Pa., and removed to that city in July of the same year. 
In less than a year thereafter, he was prostrated by a sudden 
attack of illness which proved to be varioloid. In its first 
stage this disease gave him no concern, for he had passed 
through it once before; but in its later developments, it 
assumed a serious aspect. Everything was done for him that 
medical skill could suggest or careful nursing could accom- 
plish, but human remedies were unavailing; and on the 4th 
of June, he yielded up his spirit to the God who gave it. Thus 
passed away, in the prime of life — for he was then in his 51st 
year — this good soldier of his country and of the Cross. His 
remains were taken by his widow — now Mrs. Frances Kemp- 
ster — to the burial place of her family, in Kenosha, 
Wisconsin. R. L. S. 

Note. — The writer is indebted to Hon. Royd Crumrine, of Washington. Pa.; 
Dr. J. E. Wightmen, of Washington, D. C, Historian of the Class of i860, Jeffer- 
son College, and to the writer of an obituary notice in the Presbyterian Banner, 
of June 12, 1878, for much of the material used in the preparation of this sketch. 



370 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL THOMAS B. RODGERS. 

The first Captain of Company B, of the One Hundred 
and Fortieth Regiment, Thomas Blackburn Rodgers — was 
born of Scotch-Irish ancestry at Mercer, Pa., on the 30th of 
December, 1835. Having received a liberal education which 
qualified him for a professional career, he took up the study 
of law and was admitted to the bar of his native county in 

1857. 

By appointment he became the clerk to the County Com- 
missioners from 1857 to 1861. This position he resigned at 
the outbreak of the war that he might be free to enlist in a 
Company which responded to the first call of President Lin- 
coln. Before the completion of the list of recruits it was 
announced that the full number of the three months' men 
had been secured. The Company was then included in the 
formation of the Tenth Pennsylvania Reserves and became 
Company G, of that Regiment. At the date of its organiza- 
tion, young Rodgers was made the First Lieutenant, his com- 
mission dating from April 27, 1861. He participated in the 
battle of Drainsville, Va., in December, of that year. On 
account of physical disability he was discharged by order 
of the Regimental Surgeon, May 8, 1862. 

In August, 1862, he enlisted a Company, for three years' 
service, under the authority of Governor Curtin, which after- 
wards became Company B, One Hundred and Fortieth Penn- 
sylvania volunteers. He was commissioned as Captain of 
this Company on the 3d of September. When the Regiment 
was organized at Harrisburg, he was elected and commis- 
sioned as its first Major. 

Major Rodgers was with his command in the battle of 
Chancellorsville and at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, was cap- 
tured by a flanking party of the enemy between the peach 
orchard and the wheat-field. 

He, with other officers captured in that battle, in obedi- 
ence to orders from the War Department, refused to give a 
parole on the field, although strongly urged to do so by 
General Lee's staff officers. Their place of imprisonment was 
the Libby tobacco house, Richmond. Here Major Rodgers 
remained for nine months. He was then paroled and sent 
to Annapolis and Washington. Having been declared unfit 
for field service by the medical authorities, he was detailed 
by the War Department for service on a general court 
martial sitting in Washington. Afterwards the place of 
session of this court to which he belonged, was transferred 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 371 

to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He remained on duty in this 
capacity until relieved at his own urgent and repeated 
requests to return to his Regiment. He was promoted from 
Major to Lieutenant-Colonel to date from July 4, 1863. 

During the attack on Washington by General Early, 
July, 1864, he and other members of the court offered their 
services to the War Department. The offer was accepted 
and he was assigned to the command of a battalion made 
up of three or four hundred men of the Invalid Corps, 
convalescents and dismounted cavalrymen. These hastily 
gathered defenders were stationed in the rifle pit near Fort 
Stevens, where they remained until after the arrival of the 
Sixth Army Corps. Colonel Rodgers returned to his Regi- 
ment about the first of January, 1865, and was discharged 
by special order on the 27th of April, 1865. 

Returning to Mercer County, he decided to seek a new 
field of labor in the West and in the spring of 1866, removed 
to St. Louis, Missouri. In the autumn of 1865 — October 
24, — he was united in marriage to Marion E. Long, daughter 
of Captain A. K. Long, United States Navy, retired, at Car- 
lisle, Pa. 

Mrs. Rodgers died October 18, 1908. Four sons were 
born to them, all of whom are now living and have grown 
to manhood. From 1867 to 1870, Colonel Rodgers was agent 
of the United States Quartermaster's Department for inves- 
tigation of claims against the Government; from 1870 to 
1879, he was engaged in real estate and insurance business 
and was Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court from 1879 to 1887. 
He served for a time as a member of the St. Louis Board 
of Education and has had many positions of honor and trust 
in the Missouri Department of the Grand Army of the 
Republic. He has served in this department as Assistant 
Adjutant-General two terms and, at the present time, is in 
charge of the Department Headquarters in St. Louis. He 
was a charter member of the Frank P. Blair Post No. I, 
for many years the largest post west of the Mississippi 
River. He is a member also of the Missouri Commandery 
of the Loyal Legion and of its council; a member of the 
Pennsylvania Society of St. Louis; of the Board of Trustees 
of the Federal Soldiers' Home of Missouri and the secretary 
and treasurer of the Grand Army of the Republic General 
Relief Committee of St. Louis. 

Colonel Rodgers has had the honor and privilege of 
being a member of every National encampment of the 
Grand Army of the Republic since 1877, and has served re- 



372 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

peatedly on some of the most important committees of the 
National organization. 

It seems fitting, therefore, that on the 13th of May, of 
the present year, 1912, he should receive the appointment 
from Governor Hadly, to respresent the State of Missouri 
upon the commission which recently met to arrange for a 
suitable commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the 
Battle of Gettysburg. 

Comrade Rodgers was a candidate for Congress in the 
Twelfth Congressional District of Missouri in 1892, but 
failed of election by a small margin, he having reduced the 
former opposition majority by more than 2,000 votes. 

He is proud of his record, also as one of the "306" who 
supported General Grant in the National Republican Con- 
vention at Chicago in 1880, as a delegate from the Twelfth 
Congressional District. 

It will be evident from the above summary of appoint- 
ments and services that the worthy Lieutenant-Colonel of 
the One Hundred and Fortieth has not yet reached the dead 
line of enthusiastic service and far-reaching influence. 



SKETCH OF MAJOR THOMAS HENRY. 
By Harry J. Boyde, of Beaver, Pa. 

Thomas Henry was born in Beaver, Pa., in 1838, the 
son of William and Eliza Hamilton Henry, they being the de- 
scendants of the most prominent of the families of this 
community. They were a class of people who were at all 
times interested in the development of all that was best in 
the material and moral welfare of the county. Some of 
them became prominent in public life, serving in Congress 
and other official positions. 

In the course of time the Major graduated from the 
Beaver Academy, a well-known institution in its day, and 
shortly thereafter the war between the North and South 
having broken out he entered the service in response to the 
call for volunteers. This, no doubt, interfered with any 
intentions he may have had in the matter of taking a colle- 
giate course, and thus further fitting himself for the pro- 
fessional life he had in view. 

He enlisted August 21, 1862, in Company F, of which 
he became Captain upon the promotion of Richard P. Rob- 
erts to the Colonelcy of the Regiment, a position he re- 
tained until May 1, 1865, when he became Major of the 
Regiment. 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 7>72, 

His Company had unbounded confidence in his efficiency, 
his courage and attention to the things that pertained to their 
welfare. Woe be to him who failed in issuing to his men 
their proper share of the best that was to be had in the 
matter of rations and clothing. 

His courage and ability to handle men was attested on 
many a hard-fought field. Especially was this true when 
under orders from General Hancock he, with some forty of 
his Company, removed the wounded from the burning Chan- 
cellor House on the morning of the 3d of May, 1863. He 
also succeeded in rescuing three ladies from this house, one 
of whom was Mrs. Chancellor. This work of rescue was 
done under a withering fire from the enemy at close range, 
and was worthy of more recognition than was accorded it 
at the time. 

Captain Henry's cool demeanor under the destructive 
fire that was poured into the Regiment at Gettysburg was 
particularly noticeable, and again at Farmville, when our 
Regimental skirmish line had been driven back and took a 
new position. He was in command of the Regiment dur- 
ing that engagement, and coolly paced back and forth in 
front of his command, apparently indifferent to the fire of 
the enemy, which was being largely concentrated upon him. 

At the close of the war Major Henry placed himself 
under the care of the Hon. Daniel Agnew as a student of 
law. He continued under the tutelage of this distinguished 
jurist for about a year, when he entered the office of the Hon. 
Henry Rice, with whom he completed his law studies. He 
was admitted to the Beaver County Bar, March 18, 1867. 
He at once began the practice of his profession, continuing 
thereat for a few years, when he entered the School of Mines 
of Columbia College and made a specialty of the study of 
analytical chemistry. Upon his graduation from this school 
he took charge of the mining interests of a company in the 
Far West. Upon the completion of the work he had under- 
taken there, he returned to Beaver and resumed the prac- 
tice of his profession. Following the natural bent of his 
inclinations, he gave much of his time to special studies in 
laboratory work, geology and the early local history of 
Beaver County. 

At the time of his death, February 21, 1912, Major 
Henry was a member of the Historical Committee of the 
Regimental Association, and took much interest in the prepa- 
ration of the history which is the outcome of their work. 
Between intervals of extreme bodily suffering he prepared 



374 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

brief articles for the use of the historian which were very 
helpful and suggestive. It was generally supposed that he 
had prepared the outlines of a history of the Regiment 
some years before his death, but to this he made no refer- 
ence in his correspondence, and no material relating to such 
a history could be found among his effects. The Regiment 
is greatly indebted to him, however, for a carefully wrought 
sketch in blue print of its route marches from Washing- 
ton City in 1862 to Washington City in 1865. This sketch 
has been prepared for printing and is one of the most unique 
features in the valuable list of illustrations which adorn the 
pages of this history. To its publication Major Henry gave 
his free and hearty consent. 

For several years preceding his death Major Henry was 
a great sufferer from an insidious, incurable disease, but of 
this he gave little sign to the outside world and endured 
the suffering and discomfort which fell to his lot with 
patience and resignation. His comrades frequently visited 
him, much to his delight, and did what they could to make 
him comfortable. Practically all the survivors of the Regi- 
ment in the community were in attendance at his funeral, 
each one feeling that he was helping to consign to its last 
resting place one of the bravest men of the Regiment. 



ADJUTANT WILLIAM S. SHALLENBERGER. 

The youthful incumbent of this important office lor 
more than two years, was born among the rugged hills of 
Westmoreland County, Pa. 

With the inestimable advantages of a Christian home, 
and amid the wholesale influences of country life, he had 
the best of preparation as he grew up for any sphere of 
action or any field of labor which, in the providence of God, 
he might be called. From the public school he went to 
the Mt. Pleasant Academy and thence, in due course, to the 
Lewisburg College, now Bucknell University, from which he 
was not graduated, but afterward received the degree of A.M. 

Those who saw this newly appointed Adjutant step 
out from the center of the line at the first dress parade of 
the Regiment will recall his boyish face, lithe form, grace- 
ful manner and distinctively military poise. At this time, 
and ever after — however he may have attained it — he was 
every inch an Adjutant. 

The good impression made in this first hour of pub- 
lic service was strengthened by more intimate acquaintance 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 375 

with the man ; and, during the entire period of his connec- 
tion with the Regiment, he enjoyed the unbroken confidence 
and esteem alike of its officers and men. 

The following testimonial from the commanding officer 
of the Regiment — Colonel John Fraser — is worthy of record 
here because of its evident sincerity, it having been given 
unsolicited, and because of its just discrimination in deal- 
ing with facts relating to Adjutant Shallenberger's well- 
known characteristic traits; and also to his careful, pains- 
taking and conscientious performance of duty : 

"Lieutenant Wm. Shallenberger has been Adjutant of 
my Regiment since its organization, September 9, 1862, when 
I first became acquainted with him. From that hour to the 
present I have had many opportunities of closely observing 
his conduct in the office, in drill, on the march and under 
fire. In the office he has been very systematic and untiring 
in his industry, habitually prompt in his attention to all 
orders, and always successful in making the books which he 
kept and the papers which he wrote models of accuracy 
and neatness. Moreover, in the many trying duties that de- 
volved upon him he has uniformly displayed good temper, 
combined in an unusually happy degree with great judgment 
and firmness. 

On drill and on the march I have ever found him a very 
intelligent and efficient aid, in whose cordial sympathy I 
could always depend in my attempts to instruct and discipline 
my command. In action he is considered by all his associates 
as a cool, efficient and brave officer. 

To naturally good talents, which he has very much im- 
proved by a good education, he adds a refined taste and a 
high-toned morality unsullied by a single bad habit. 

Having for a long time and in a high degree enjoyed the 
esteem and confidence both of the officers and men of my 
command, and having acquired a more than ordinary knowl- 
edge of tactics and of the forms of military business, he has, 
in my opinion, proved himself to be abundantly competent 
to fill any field office in a Regiment. From my intimate 
knowledge of his character and talents, I feel confident that, 
in whatever position he may be placed, he will discharge his 
duties with great fidelity and ability. As an act of justice to 
Lieutenant Shallenberger, whom I have not had hitherto a 
chance of helping to the promotion which he richly deserves, 
I, in the foregoing statement, spontaneously put on record 
the high place which he has earned for himself in my affec- 
tion and esteem. 



376 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

(Signed) John Fraser, 
Colonel One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment. 
Canonsburg, Washington Co., Pa. 
January 26, 1864. 

Of like interest and value are the statements and com- 
mendation which follow : 

Hospital, First Division, Second Corps, 

Near Petersburgh, Va., 

September 17, 1864. 

Having learned that Adjutant William S. Shallenberger, One Hundred 
and Fortieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, is about to make appli- 
cation for appointment as Paymaster, U. S. A., I desire briefly to present 
his claims to that position. 

Adjutant Shallenberger, in response to the call for volunteers in 1862, 
enlisted as a private and contributed largely, by his influence and personal 
efforts, to the formation of the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment 
Pennsylvania Volunteers. Upon the organization of the Regiment he was 
appointed Adjutant and has served in this capacity until the present time. 
At the battle of Chancellorsville, the first in which the Regiment was 
engaged, he received a slight wound, which, however, did not require 
him to leave the field. At the battle of Gettysburg he was severely 
wounded in the leg, but rejoined the Regiment at Morrisville, Va., 
before his wound was healed and participated with the Regiment in all 
the marches and fighting of the fall campaign. 

Just recovering from a severe attack of sickness, he started upon 
the campaign of 1864 when scarcely able to keep the saddle, was in the 
battle of the Wilderness and at the fight of Corbins Bridge, near Todd's 
Tavern, received a very severe wound in the thigh from which he is 
now suffering. It is not probable that he will be able to enter upon 
active field service, although his wound will not unfit him for the lighter 
duties of the position which he seeks. 

Adjutant Shallenberger has remarkable business capacity and his 
qualifications for a post like this are beyond question. 

Having full confidence in his ability to discharge the duties of Pay- 
master to the satisfaction of the Department, I very respectfully recom- 
mend his appointment. 

J. WILSON WISHART, 
Surgeon, One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

HON. E. M. STANTON, 
Secretary of War. 

Headquarters, First Division, 

September 20, 1864. 
I take pleasure in endorsing the recommendations of Surgeon Wishart. 
Adjutant Shallenberger has served under my command and I know him to 
be a most reliable, efficient and worthy officer and strongly recommend 
him for the position he seeks. 

NELSON A. MILES, 
Brigadier-General, Commanding. 

This is a meritorious case. This young officer made, I think, more 
recruits for us in Western Pennsylvania in the winter of 1863 and 1864, 
than probably any other officer; but aside from this, he is a gallant young 
officer, richly deserving of promotion and capable of filling the position 
he aspires to. 

Respectfully submitted, 

WINFD. S. HANCOCK, 
Major General Volunteers, 
Commanding Second Corps. 
September 22, 1864. 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 377 

I very earnestly unite in the recommendation of William S. Shall- 
enberger and will be personally gratified if he can be appointed. 

A. G. CURTIN, 
Governor of Pennsylvania. 

If the service of this applicant can be made useful, let him be 
appointed. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
October 27, 1864. 

After leaving the service Adjutant Shallenberger en- 
gaged in mercantile business and has been connected as 
director or executive officer with several National Banks and 
manufacturing companies. 

He was a representative in Congress from 24th District 
of Pennsylvania for three terms and during the last term 
was chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and 
Grounds and prominent in tariff discussions. 

He was appointed by Governor Beaver, a member of 
the Lake Erie and Ohio River Ship Canal Commission; was 
a member of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce; director 
of the Bank of Pittsburgh, N. A.; one of the original pro- 
motors of the National Manufacturers Association and a 
delegate for several years to the National Board of Trade. 
For the past ten years he has served the Government with dis- 
tinguished ability as Second Assistant Postmaster General, 
and to the entire satisfaction of President McKinley, from 
whom he received the appointment, and President Roosevelt, 
who gave him a letter of commendation on his voluntary re- 
tirement from that position. He served for a longer period 
in that important Government Bureau, which now receives 
and disburses from 70 to 80 millions of dollars and deals 
directly with all mail transportation by land and water, 
whether at home or abroad, than any other person for the 
past three quarters of a century. It is said of Mr. Shallen- 
berger by prominent officials in the department, that he was 
thoroughly familiar with the details of his office, always 
agreeable and approachable as an official and more popular 
with Congressmen than any other man who had held the 
office. His integrity and impartiality were unquestioned and 
his decisions on the most difficult questions which arise 
between leading transportation companies and the Govern- 
ment, were so wise and fair by reason of his large experience 
and judicial temperament, that not a single important deci- 
sion of his was ever overruled by anyone of the five Post- 
master Generals, under whom he served. His rare good 
judgment was shown in his dealings with his associates and 
employees, some of whom belonged to the labor unions, but 



378 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

all of whom speak in the most affectionate terms of his 
administration. 

Mr. Shallenberger has been a consistent Christian all his 
life, a member of the Baptist denomination. His modest 
worth and ability as a leader have nowhere been recognized 
more conspicuously than among the prominent men of that 
denomination. 

He has been moderator of Associations; President of 
the Pennsylvania State Mission Society for three years, and 
President of the National Society for an equal period, volun- 
tarily retiring from the last named in May, 1907. 

The fact that during recent years, when the most ex- 
haustive investigations were going on in the Post Office 
Department, not a suspicion of wrong-doing was lodged 
against Mr. Shallenberger or any one of his division chiefs 
called forth from the press of the State and the country 
at large, as well as from members of the House and Senate 
expressions highly complimentary when he announced pub- 
licly his intention to resign at the completion of a ten- 
year period. 



CAPTAIN J. MILTON RAY. 
Company C. 

Captain Ray enlisted as a private at West Alexander, 
Pa., and at the organization of the Company was made the 
Fourth Sergeant. Having served with ability and fidelity 
in all the intermediate grades, he was commissioned as 
Captain on the 5th of December, 1864. Being sound in mind 
and limb, and having the patriotic desire to do his full duty 
he participated in all the marches, skirmishes and battles 
in which the Regiment was engaged. He was one of the 
few men in this command who escaped scathless from 
many perilous situations and seemed to be immune from the 
prevailing types of sickness which on different occasions 
had prostrated so many of his comrades. The following 
letter from his old Commander, Lieutenant-General Miles 
will suffice to show the estimate in which he was held by 
his associates as well as by his superior officers: 

Headquarters of the Army, 
Washington, D. C, March 31, 1902. 
Dear Captain Ray: 

It gives me pleasure to testify to your splendid serv- 
ices as an officer of that splendid Regiment, the One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers. I remember 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 379 

you very well and that you did not seem satisfied to take 
your dangers as they naturally came to you, but you were 
always seeking out opportunities for the most hazardous 
chances. It was a marvel that you escaped with your life. 
Your record as a soldier is an especially good one, and 
you can well be proud of it as are your comrades who knew 
your qualities in this respect. 

Wishing you long life and the fullest measure of suc- 
cess in whatever endeavor you may be engaged, I remain, 

Yours very sincerely, 

NELSON A. MILES, 

Lieutenant-General. 

The record of Captain Ray's promotions, appointments 
and services has been briefly summed up as follows : 

Private August 22, 1862 

Sergeant September 4, 1862 

First Sergeant September 23, 1863 

Second Lieutenant (by order of War Dept.)..July 19, 1863 

First Lieutenant and Adjutant January 16, 1864 

Captain December 5, 1864 

Honorably mustered out May 31, 1865 

Elected to Military Order, Loyal Legion United States, 

May 6, 1896 
Commander Duquesne Post, No. 259, Dept. of Pa., 

G. A. R 1896 

Colonel, Encampment No. 1, Union Vet. Legion, Pitts- 
burg, Pa 1891 

Secretary, Genl. Com. Society Army of the Potomac 

Reunion 1899 

Vice-President and Corps Representative at same Re- 
union 1899 

ADJUTANT JOHN S. BRYAN. 

Adjutant Bryan, the son of James and Isabella Miller 
Bryan, was born, March 26, 1846, in the village of Hooks- 
town, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. 

Enlisted August 22, 1862, as drummer in Company H, 
One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

Promoted to Principal Musician, November 1, 1863. 

Promoted and commissioned Adjutant of the Regiment, 
December 17, 1864. 

Discharged from the service, May 31, 1865. 

On reaching home he at once began his studies in order 
to fit himself for the practice of medicine and surgery to 



380 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

which he had looked forward as his life work. Without 
any means and dependent entirely upon his own resources, 
he finally succeeded graduating from the medical college 
which he attended, with more than ordinary credit. 

Upon the completion of his studies he at once began 
practice in Mexico, the County-seat of Audrain County, Mo. 
He was devoted to his profession serving rich and poor 
alike and made rapid advancement. During the winter of 
1873 and 1874, an epidemic of typhoid fever swept through 
the community and in his efforts to stay its ravages, he 
literally gave his life and died March 28, 1874. 

Pleasant, affable and conscientious, he was a general 
favorite. A good soldier and faithful in the discharge of his 
duties. 

At Farmville, where the Regiment fought its last bat- 
tle, he distinguished himself. Seeing the danger threaten- 
ing the line, he rode to the front, made known the situa- 
tion and thus saved many from being captured, a fate he 
himself narrowly escaped by reason of his horse having 
been shot under him and killed. 



JOHN WILSON WISHART, M.D. 

Born April 19, 1829, at Washington, Pa., the son of John 
Wishart, M.D., and Martha Wilson Wishart. 

A graduate of Washington and Jefferson College and 
the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. 

January 7, 1852, married Annie Green, who died Sep- 
tember 1, 1855. 

September, 1859, married Mary McClurg. 

Dr. Wishart died June 21, 1902, leaving to survive him 
his widow and seven children. 

Enlisted September 2, 1862, as Assistant Surgeon One 
Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania. He became finally 
Regimental Surgeon, promoted to Brigade Surgeon and then 
to Surgeon of the First Division Second Army Corps. 

Was mustered out of the service May 30, 1865, and 
shortly after settled in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he practiced 
his profession until his death. 

He was a member of Post 259 G. A. R., Department of 
Pennsylvania and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. 

Dr. Wishart was held in high repute as a Surgeon 
throughout the Corps to which he belonged and skilfully 
performed many difficult and dangerous operations. He 
was gentle as a woman in his care of the sick and wounded 
and was greatly beloved by all who knew him. In his 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 381 

manner and deportment he was courteous, affable and ap- 
proachable — a kindly Christian gentleman, at all times and 
under the most trying circumstances. 



SKETCH OF WILLIAM WOLVERTON SHARP, M.D. 

Late Assistant Surgeon of the One Hundred and For- 
tieth Pennsylvania Volunteers. Born January 19, 1826, at 
Amity, Washington County, Pennsylvania. 

Parents names, Zachariah and Elizabeth Sharp. 

Educated at Washington and Jefferson College. 

Began the practice of medicine about 1850 at Clays- 
ville, Pa., also at West Middleton, Pa., and Amity, Pa. 

Mustered into the service of the United States as As- 
sistant Surgeon, September 12, 1862. 

Promoted to Surgeon of the One Hundred and Sixty- 
third Pennsylvania Volunteers, sometimes known as the 
Eighteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, January 13, 1864. 

Discharged from the service, October 14, 1864. 

Died August 4, 1883, and is buried at Amity, Pa. 

He was with Generals Sheridan and Kilpatrick in their 
famous raids around Richmond, Va. He contracted malaria 
and ague among the Virginia swamps, from which he never 
recovered. He was the first to move in the matter of ob- 
serving Memorial Day in Amity, and as long as he lived he 
saw to it that every soldier's grave in the old cemetery was 
strewn with flowers. 



BENJAMIN F. HILL, M.D. 

Dr. Hill was a native of Washington County where he 
was born on the 18th of June, 1828. His parents, John and 
Katherine (Chestnut) Hill were members of the Presbyterian 
Church, and Benjamin, their only son, was trained from 
early childhood in the faith of his parents and in later years 
became an office-bearer in the same church. He was pre- 
pared for college at the Florence Academy, near his home, 
under the care of Professors J. A. Smith and C. W. Miller. 
He entered upon his studies in Washington College in 1847 
and at the close of his junior year was admitted to the 
senior class of Jefferson College at Canonsburg. After com- 
pleting his course in this institution he took up the study 
of medicine and was graduated from the Starling Medical 
College at Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Hill's mental endowments 
were good and he ranked with the best in all his classes. 
He commenced the practice of medicine at Candor, Pa., and, 



382 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

with the exception of the time which was spent by him in 
the army, remained in this place during his entire professional 
career. On the 5th of November, 1862, he was mustered into 
United States service as Assistant Surgeon of the One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers and remained 
with the Regiment in this capacity until the close of the war. 
As a physician and surgeon Dr. Hill was kindly and sym- 
pathetic and faithfully discharged the duties and responsibili- 
ties of his office. Two important events occurred in his 
personal history, says his biographer, after his return from 
the army; the first being a public profession of his faith 
in connection with the Candor Church and the second his 
marriage on the 16th of September, 1865, to Miss Eliza J. 
Sturgeon, daughter of Major John and Jane Sturgeon. Dr. 
Hill died at Candor, January 19th, 1910, leaving to two 
children, Mrs. N. L. Rodgers of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Dr. 
J. L. Hill, of Cherry Valley, Pa., the heritage of a good 
name and the record of a life of faithful service rendered 
to his God, his country and his fellow man. 



MARCUS ORMOND. 

Rev. Marcus Ormond was born 1820, enlisted in Com- 
pany H, One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers, August 22, 1862, and elected Captain of the Company, 
but was not mustered in as such. He resigned the Captaincy 
of the Company and was commissioned as Chaplain of the 
Regiment, September 16, 1862, which position he resigned 
June 8, 1863. 

He was born near Plumville, Armstrong County, Penn- 
sylvania, the son of Alexander and Jane Ormond. He re- 
ceived a common school education in Armstrong County, 
finally entering Athens College, Ohio; graduated there- 
from and entered the Seminary of the U. P. Church in 
Allegheny. 

He began his ministry in 1858, serving churches in 
Hookstown, Pa.; Oxford, Ohio, and West Alexandria, Pa., 
until the close of 1880, when he was compelled by reason of 
ill-health to leave the ministry, and died in 1883 of paresis, 
while on his way to Kansas, Iowa. 

He married Sarah Jane Dick in 1859, who survived him. 
but left no other family. 



REV. JOHN LYNN MILLIGAN, LL.D. 
Chaplain Milligan, the successor of Marcus Ormond, was 
born on the 30th of July, at Ickesburg, Perry County, Penna. 



PERSONAL SKETCHES M 

His parents were of the pioneer stock of the Juniata Valley 
and gave to their son when but a lad the advantages in due 
course of the public schools and of the Bloomfield and Pus- 
carora Academies. With the ministry in mind as his life 
work, young Milligan was graduated from Washington Col- 
lege, Pa., in i860 and from Princeton Theological Seminary, 
in 1863. 

When his native State was invaded he enlisted in an 
emergency regiment and served as Captain during the most 
of the brief term of the existence of this organization. He 
then assisted in the organization of recruits for the army in 
the field and in the month of November received his appoint- 
ment as Chaplain of the One Hundred and Fortieth Regi- 
ment. Coming at once to the front in the vicinity of Stevens- 
burg he reported to the commanding officer of the Regiment 
and entered upon his work with vigor and enthusiasm. His 
kindly manner, unflinching courage in the performance of the 
duties of his sacred office and his sympathetic interest in the 
affairs of the men, quickly won their hearts and secured 
their co-operation. His first experience on the battlefield 
was in the Mine Run campaign, which was opened a few 
days after his arrival. During the winter of 1863-64, a com- 
fortable chapel was erected under his direction in which 
religious services were held regularly on the Sabbath and 
on Wednesday evenings. As a result of these services some 
of the men made a public confession of their faith in Christ 
and a deep spiritual interest was awakened. From the date of 
his arrival until the Regiment was mustered out of service 
Chaplain Milligan labored faithfully and assiduously in the 
interests of the men committed to his charge and in camp, 
on the battlefield and in the hospital, he shared in their 
experiences of hardships and dangers, ministering as he had 
opportunity, to their temporal and spiritual wants. 

Soon after the close of the war he was appointed to the 
chaplaincy of the Western Penitentiary at Pittsburgh, and in 
this capacity rendered faithful and distinguished service for 
a period of forty years. When failing health compelled 
him to tender his resignation, he was made the chaplain and 
emeritus by the prison board of inspectors. 

In recognition of his eminent service in social and prison 
work, he was honored by his Alma Mater, Washington and 
Jefferson College, with the degree of LL.D. 

Dr. Milligan was the Chaplain of the Eighteenth Regi- 
ment of the National Guards of Pennsylvania for 20 years 
and was prominent in Grand Army circles and was often 



384 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

called upon for addresses at the reunions of his Regiment 
and of other Veteran organizations. 

He died at the age of 72, in the home of his sister, Mrs. 
J. H. Irwin, at Newport, Perry County, Penna., in July, 1909. 

In connection with the notice of his death the Pittsburgh 
Gazette Times, of July 13, 1909, published an appreciative 
notice from which we quote as follows: 

"Dr. Milligan's war record was one of brilliant service. 
Although a Chaplain never was required on the fighting line, 
he bravely attended the wounded and dying soldiers in the 
midst of charges many times and never was wounded. He 
was at the battles of Spottsylvania, the Wilderness, Cold 
Harbor, Appomattox and the siege of Petersburg, and many 
other minor engagements. At the battle of Gettysburg he 
was a member of the army sanitary commission. 

" 'He was the best chaplain in the service,' said Captain 
J. Milton Ray, of the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, 
last night. 'He was fearless and brave and many tales have 
been told of his adventures on the firing line helping the 
wounded of our Regiment.' 

"Shortly after Dr. Milligan was mustered out, he was 
ordained and became pastor of the First Presbyterian Church 
at Horicon, Wis. On February 3, 1869, he was appointed 
Chaplain of the Western Penitentiary and went to live with 
the warden at that time, Captain E. S. Wright, who re- 
mained there 33 years and who resigned because of ill health. 

"Dr. Milligan was a charter member of the National 
Prison Association, and which was organized in 1870. In 
1908 he was president of the congress of that organization 
held in Richmond, Va. Several years ago he was a delegate 
to the International Prison Congresses held in London, Co- 
penhagen and in Rome. Dr. Milligan also was a charter 
member of the Allegheny County Prison Society, and since 
the death of William Thaw until his death, he had been its 
president. He kept an extensive record of prisoners after 
their discharge from the penitentiary and his belief in the 
possibility of reforming criminals never wavered. 

"Dr. Milligan was stated clerk of the Allegheny Presby- 
tery for 25 years, and upon its consolidation with the Pitts- 
burgh Presbytery several years ago, he was elected the first 
moderator. Since the organization of the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Pennsylvania Regimental Association shortly after 
the end of the war until his death, he had been secretary of 
that organization. 

"Two years ago Dr. Milligan left the warden's home at 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 385 

the penitentiary and moved to Library Place, North Side, 
where he lived until he became ill last January. His relatives 
sent him to his sisters home at Newport, Pa., where he rallied 
somewhat but never regained his strength fully. Two days 
ago he began to sink rapidly, and for 24 hours before his 
death, he was unconscious." 

The following tribute from another source is also 
worthy of record in this connection : 

"As a Chaplain, the Rev. John L. Milligan ministered to 
the wounded on the firing line of many a fiercely-fought 
battle of the Civil War. Greater love hath no man than 
to lay down his life for his friend. Of this quality was 
the service which Chaplain Milligan rendered amid shot and 
shell to the men who fell in the first line of battle and while 
the conflict ebbed and flowed around him. That his life was 
not spilt out on some reddened field of war was due to a 
favoring Providence and not to any effort of his to avoid 
the perils which moved down so many of his comrades. His 
life was given for them as truly as though some bullet had 
ended his ministrations of love and mercy. For 40 years, 
beginning soon after the Civil War had closed, he devoted 
mind, heart and soul to another chaplaincy, the field of whose 
labors was the Western Penitentiary. His work in the Civil 
War was to prepare men for death. In the long years of 
the later service it was to persuade men at war with society 
to begin new lives. How well he succeeded none can say 
until the pages of the book of the recording angel are 
revealed after the reveille of the resurrection morn. It was 
his part to prepare ground and sow seed, to tend it so far 
as might be, but of necessity to trust the harvest to others. 
He did this faithfully and devotedly, in charity and mercy. 
His work began with but did not end in the prison. Much 
of his effort was devoted to enlisting the sympathies of 
those whose feet had not slipped nor their purpose failed 
in behalf of their brethren who had fallen into evil ways. 
The reformation of prisoners was the goal of his ambition 
and few did more than he to awaken public interest in the 
fallen and crime stained. In this labor he lived, to it he 
gave his life, and the good that he did will live after him." 

Extract from the minutes of the Annua! Reunion of the One Hundred 
and Fortieth Pennsylvania Regimental Association held October zi, 1909, 
at Waynesburg, Pa. 

The report of the committee appointed to prepare a minute on the 
death of Rev. John Lynn Milligan, LL.D., Chaplain of the Regiment dur- 
ing the war and Secretary of the Association since its formation reported 
as follows, viz. : 

We record with profound sorrow and a sense of personal bereave- 



M THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



ment the death since our last annual meeting of our beloved Chaplain and 
Secretary Rev. John Lynn Milligan, D.D., at the home of his sister, 
Newport, Penna., on July 12, 1909, aged 72 years. 

Recognizing in this the ordering of our Heavenly Father who doeth 
all things well we bow in humble submission to His will. 

Resolved — First: That we hereby express our appreciation and high 
esteem for our Chaplain as a man tried and true, who was faithful as a 
spiritual advisor, brave and efficient on the battlefield and in the times 
that tried men's souls; ever ready to administer help and comfort to those 
who were in distress of body or mind. 

Dr. Milligan was pre-eminently qualified by his winsome manner, 
kindly heart and deep spirituality for the difficult and delicate office of a 
Christian Chaplain. 

Second: That we give emphatic expression of our high regard for 
the interest he constantly manifested in our Association and for the ardu- 
ous tasks which he performed for so many years as its secretary. 

Third: That we gratefully recognize his ability and splendid service 
in all the reform movements of his day and especially his great work in 
connection with prisoners and prison reform. 

Fourth: That we recommend these minutes be spread upon the 
minutes of the Association and preserved as a matter of abiding interest 
and importance. 

Committee viz.: Rev. John D. Irons, D.D. ; Rev. Robert L. Stewart, 
D.D., and Joseph Moody. 

The resolutions were read and unanimously approved. 



BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL HENRY H. BINGHAM. 

Henry Harrison Bingham was born in Philadelphia, 
Pa., December 4, 1841. His grandfather, Thomas Bingham, 
came from County Tyrone, Ireland, and his grandmother, 
Margaret Cameron, was a cousin of General Simon Cam- 
eron. He received his collegiate education at Jefferson 
College in Western Pennsylvania, and was graduated in the 
class of 1862 at the age of twenty. He gave valuable as- 
sistance to Prof. Fraser of that institution in recruiting 
Company G, as it was afterwards designated, and was 
made the First Lieutenant at the time of its organization. 
When Prof. Fraser was promoted from Captain of the 
company to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Regiment, Bingham 
was advanced to the Captaincy. At this time Captain Bing- 
ham was of slight build and weighed only 100 pounds. His 
energy, alertness and enthusiasm were not measured or 
gauged by his physical proportions, however, and he soon be- 
came noted as an officer of exceptional ability, courage and 
sound judgment. In some way he attracted the attention 
of General Hancock, when he commanded the First Divi- 
sion, and was detached from his company as a member of 
his staff. This position he retained, with increasing honors 
and promotions, so long as his brilliant chief was connected 
with the Army of the Potomac. 

In this capacity he participated in all the campaigns 
and battles of the Second Army Corps, except when he was 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 387 

temporarily absent from the army because of physical dis- 
ability from wounds received in action. 

On the 25th of September, 1864, Captain Bingham 
was discharged from his company for promotion and was 
appointed Major and Judge Advocate of the First Division, 
and later was commissioned by the War Department as 
Judge Advocate of the Second Army Corps. 

He was wounded at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, at the 
storming of the salient at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864, and 
again at Farmville in 1865, two days before the surrender 
of General Lee's army. It has been said of him with 
truth, that "in every official report of the leading engage- 
ments in which he participated he was, without an exception, 
mentioned for distinguished service. With General Han- 
cock he was a great favorite, and in many cases where cool 
judgment and dauntless bravery were required, he was sent 
out to the front as his special representative and field execu- 
tive. "He was brevetted for gallantry in action as Major 
Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel and Brigadier-General, and re- 
ceived a medal of honor from Congress for special and ex- 
ceptional gallantry in one of the Wilderness battles." 

It should be placed to his credit also that, during the 
terrific cannonade of the 3d of July, which preceded the 
charge of Pickett's Division, he rode with Hancock from 
Zeigler's grove on the right to the extreme left of his line, 
nearly a mile in extent, and back, while caissons were ex- 
ploding, batteries were disabled and shot and shell were 
crashing and bursting on every hand. 

"The sight of that unfurled flag," which was known as 
Hancock's headquarters flag, says General Mulholland, "and 
of Hancock and his staff calm, fearless and confident did 
much to nerve the stout hearts of the men of the Second 
Corps and aid them in winning, an hour later, the most 
important victory of the century." 

After his discharge, with so many honors, from the 
army, General Bingham returned to Philadelphia and took 
up the study of law. 

This was interrupted first by an appointment to the posi- 
tion of chief clerk in the Philadelphia Post Office in the 
month of November, 1866. In March, 1867, he received the 
appointment of Postmaster of Philadelphia. He was re- 
commissioned by President Grant and continued in this posi- 
tion until 1872. 

During his administration of this office many important 
changes contributing to the efficiency of the service were 



388 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

made. He resigned this office to accept the clerkship of the 
Courts of Philadelphia, and in 1878 was elected to repre- 
sent the First Congressional District in the House of Rep- 
resentatives. This office he held in unbroken succession 
for more than thirty-three years. Since the death of 
Galustra A. Grow he has had the distinction of serving as 
Father of the House. 

On the 4th of February, 1874, he was married to Miss 
Mary H., daughter of Thos. S. Alexander, Esquire, of Bal- 
timore. One child was born to them; died shortly after 
birth. Mrs. Bingham died July 2, 1884. 

General Bingham was one of the organizers of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, and aided in the organization 
of the George G. Meade Post No. 1, of Philadelphia. 

He was an eloquent persuasive speaker and on many 
public occasions was selected to represent important inter- 
ests or to voice the sentiment of great assemblages as "Ora- 
tor of the Day." He delivered the oration on Pennsylvania 
Day at Gettysburg in 1889, when more than eighty monu- 
ments were transferred to the battlefield association. And 
the noble address which he delivered at the dedication of the 
equestrian statue of General Hancock on June 5, 1896, will 
rank with the best of the patriotic orations which the in- 
spiration of the Gettysburg field has evoked. 

General Bingham died at his home in Philadelphia on the 
25th of March, 1912, after a serious illness of about five 
weeks. 

Honors befitting his eminent services to the nation were 
paid to his memory in the funeral and burial services by 
representatives of both houses of Congress, by the Union 
League, the Masonic Order, the Young Republican Club and 
by a blue-clad group of veterans representing the George 
G. Meade Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. 



JOHN F. McCULLOUGH 
Captain Company A. 

Captain John Fulton McCullough, the son of Evan and 
Nancy Fulton McCullough, was born near Jefferson, Greene 
County, Penna., May 12, 1841. He attended common school 
until he was eighteen years of age, when he entered Waynes- 
burg College. He later attended Jefferson College at Can- 
onsburg, Pa. 

During the Civil War he served as a private from 
August 16, 1861, to January 16, 1862. Later, together with 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 3«9 

J. J. Purman and David Taylor, he recruited a company 
known as the "Greene County Rifles." This Company was 
organized August 18, 1862, with McCullough as captain. 

It was designated as Company A at the date of the 
organization of the Regiment, and participated with it on 
all the marches and engagements of the Army of the Poto- 
mac from Chancellorsville to Appomattox. 

Captain McCullough was regarded by his superiors in 
command as one of the bravest, most resourceful and trust- 
worthy line officers in the famous division to which he 
belonged. 

When Colonel Fraser was disabled by a wound on the 
12th of May, at Spottsylvania Court House, the command of 
the Regiment devolved upon Captain McCullough; and he 
proved himself to be a wise and capable leader throughout 
the prolonged conflict of that terrible day. 

In the flanking movement southward to the North Anna 
during the latter part of the month, the One Hundred and 
Fortieth, under his skilful leadership, did good service, as 
was usual, on the skirmish line. 

A few days later, May 31st, he met his death at the head 
of his Regiment, while leading a charge against an in- 
trenched line of the enemy at Totopotomy Creek, Va. 

A full account of this disastrous engagement, in which 
the One Hundred and Fortieth alone met the enemy, and 
of the part taken in it by Captain McCullough, is given on 
page 205 and need not be repeated here. 

A short time before his untimely death, this "very gal- 
lant and promising young officer," as General Miles desig- 
nated him, had received a notice of his appointment as Colo- 
nel of the One Hundred and Eighty-third Regiment, Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers. This regiment was also in the First 
Brigade, and had been enlisted under the auspices of the 
Philadelphia Union League. 

Colonel McCullough's commission did not reach the 
headquarters of the Regiment until some days after his 
death. To him was given this distinguished honor as a fitting 
reward of merit; but in the discharge of his duty on that 
fateful day, he fell at his post before he could be mus- 
tered in. 

His honored remains were recovered by his men and 
were shipped to Jefferson, Greene County, Pa., where they 
now rest. "This spot of ground," says the late Chaplain 
Millegan, "is made sacred by the remains of as brave and 
true a soldier as ever drew a sword or shouldered a gun." 
(See page 206.) 



390 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

JAMES M. PIPES. 

Captain J. M. Pipes, late of Company "A," One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, enlisted as a 
private, was appointed First Sergeant, subsequently commis- 
sioned and mustered Lieutenant and then Captain. Except 
for a short time on two occasions while recovering from 
wounds, he was in every march and every battle in which his 
Regiment took part up to February 17, 1865, when, by reason 
of the loss of his right arm, he was discharged. He never 
straggled on a march and never lost an hour's duty from 
any cause. He commanded his Regiment on several occa- 
sions and twice in battle. Was in the charge of General 
Zook's Brigade on July 2, 1863, where his Regiment lost 244 
men in about 30 minutes near little Round Top and Devils 
Den. In this charge the Captain, then Orderly Sergeant, 
and Lieutenant Purman, after the Regiment was cut to 
pieces and the remnant had mostly fallen back, carried a 
badly wounded comrade some distance and placed him be- 
hind a big boulder to shelter him from the storm of shot and 
shell. While the Confederates were calling "Stop and sur- 
render you d Yanks," they did not surrender, but 

started toward the Union lines. When the Lieutenant 
cried out, "Orderly, I am hit," he fell (his leg was ampu- 
tated), and almost instantly Sergeant Pipes was wounded 
in the leg, and having but one to use for locomotion, with 
the use of his gun started to hop off and ran into the ene- 
mies flankers, was captured and taken back to an old barn 
surrounded by a peach orchard. Here, along with quite 
a number of the enemies wounded, he remained until the 
Union forces advanced and carried the Orderly back to the 
temporary hospital in the woods. 

Returning to his Regiment Sergeant Pipes found the 
men hurriedly preparing to attack the enemy, and with- 
out even a uniform and no gun he went into the charge with 
a gum poncho and a loaf of bread. Corporal Burke was 
wounded and had a leg amputated, and Sergeant Pipes took 
off his cartridge box and gun and, thus equipped, did some 
sharp firing. 

At Ream Station, Va., on the evening of August 24, 
1864, Captain Pipes being the ranking officer was placed in 
command of a detail sent out on the picket line, the left rest- 
ing on the W. R. R. bed and the right quite a distance up 
the hill and next to the cavalry. He remained on the line all 
night and all day, the 25th, until late in the afternoon. It 
then became apparent that the enemy, about 24,000 strong, 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 391 

were gradually working around our flank toward the rear, 
for the purpose of enveloping Hancock's two divisions 
which numbered only 6,000 men. Realizing the danger of 
being captured, the command under Captain Pipes was 
moved back across the R. R. and lay down in a depression 
in the red clay soil, which was caused by recent rains. It 
had been there only a few minutes when Pegram's celebrated 
battery unlimbered near where the right of the skirmish 
line had formerly rested and opened up a heavy fire. See- 
ing the danger of losing men rapidly, the order was given to 
rise up and double quick back up the hill in the rear of the 
railroad. At this moment an aide came dashing up and cried 
out, "Captain, if you will throw your men into line and 
help check the enemy in its flank movement, you shall have 
credit." Seeing none of his Regiment or division at hand, 
the Captain ordered the men to move by the left flank as 
skirmishers and take intervals. Soon they were across the 
field left toward the rear, where they availed themselves of 
stumps and rocks for protection, and opened a heavy fire on 
the flank and rear of the enemy. Near evening, when the 
fight was about ended, the Captain was badly wounded, his 
right arm being shattered by a ball which passed through 
it and lodged in his right side. Wkh the aid of two com- 
rades he walked back to the rear and in the woods came up 
with his Regiment, his command coming back with him, 
fell in with it. Here a surgeon bandaged his arm and he 
was placed in an ambulance and rode ten miles to City Point. 
There, by good fortune, he found our good surgeon, Dr. 
Wishart. After watching him amputate General Beaver's 
leg, the Captain took the table and the amputation was made 
at the shoulder. 

Captain Pipes wears a Congressional Medal of Honor 
for gallantry at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, and at Ream Sta- 
tion, Va., August 25, 1864. After the war he located in 
Marshall County, West Virginia. He was elected and served 
a term as County Treasurer in 1866. In 1868 he was elected 
Secretary of State and served one term, also elected and 
served as a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1872. 
For a number of years he has been employed by the gov- 
ernment in Washington, D. C, where he still resides. 

The Captain has filled every position in the G. A. R., 
including that of commander of the Department of the Po- 
tomac. 



392 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 
CAPTAIN WILSON N. PAXTON. 

Captain W. N. Paxton was born in Canonsburg, Pa., 
December 6, 1834. His ancestors were of the hardy Scotch- 
Irish stock, and some of them, on both sides of the house, 
served in the War of the Revolution. Passing through the 
usual course of preparatory studies he entered the Fresh- 
man class of Jefferson College, and was graduated from 
that institution in the class of 1856. He then turned his 
attention to the study of law, and in 1861 was admitted to 
the Washington County Bar. In the summer of 1862 he 
assisted in securing recruits for the Brown Guard of Can- 
onsburg, afterwards designated as Company G, when it be- 
came a part of the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania 
Volunteers. At the date of its organization he was elected 
Second Lieutenant, and soon after was made First Lieu- 
tenant by regular promotion. He had command of the Com- 
pany during the three days of the desperate conflict at Chan- 
cellorsville, where it lost heavily in killed and wounded and, 
amid all these trying experiences, acquitted himself with 
honor, conspicuous bravery and cool-headed devotion to duty. 
In the same position of responsibility he entered upon the 
Gettysburg campaign, and on the evening of the Second of 
July led his company through a storm of shot and shell to 
the open space on the hillcrest, west of the wheatfield, 
where so many fell in the vain attempt to recover General 
Sickles' lost ground. When at length the order came to fall 
back, a strong flanking force of the enemy, pouring in 
through the gap made by the withdrawal of the Third Corps, 
had already passed to the rear and cut off the retreat of 
some of the men who went directly back through the wheat- 
field. Pausing for a moment to give assistance to a wounded 
man of his Company, Lieutenant Paxton was taken in the 
toils of the enemy before he could rejoin the remnant of 
his Company. For ten weary months he was confined in 
Libby Prison, Richmond, Va. At the end of this period he 
was taken to the stockade at Macon, Georgia, then to 
Charleston, S. C, where, with Colonel Fraser and other 
officers of note, he was kept for a considerable time under 
the fire of the Union batteries. The last place of his im- 
prisonment was Columbia, S. C, from which he was taken 
to Wilmington, N. C, for exchange. Here, on the first of 
March, 1865, after twenty months of experiences in Con- 
federate prisons, Lieutenant Paxton re-entered the Union 
lines and became a free man. He received the well-deserved 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 

promotion to Captain after his return, and was mustered out 
by special order, May 17, 1865. 

Resuming the practice of his profession at Pittsburg 
in the autumn of the same year, he gave his exclusive at- 
tention to it until September, 1881, when he accepted a posi- 
tion which was tendered him in the Pension Department, 
Washington City, D. C. Captain Paxton is a member of the 
District of Columbia Commandery of the Military Order of 
the Loyal Legion, and of the Thomas Paxton Post 126 of 
Western Pennsylvania, named in honor of his brother, 
Thomas Paxton, who was killed at the battle of Po River, 
Va., May 9, 1864. 

The Rev. G. H. Keady, his college historian, writes of 
him: 

"Captain Paxton is a scion of that Presbyterian stock 
that settled in Western Pennsylvania which has moulded 
the character of our entire civilization — a stock that needs 
no annals, but is content to be a moving force. He has al- 
ways been one of the men who don't talk but do, and make 
no fuss; that class of men by whom the world's work is ac- 
complished, for whom no newspaper blows its penny trumpet, 
but who can afford to wait for the welcome, 'Well done, 
good and faithful servant.' " 



LIEUTENANT JOHN R. PAXTON. 

This distinguished representative of Company G, brother 
of Captain Wilson Paxton, was born and bred in the col- 
lege town of Canonsburg, Pa. Like many of his associates 
he was a pupil of Professor Fraser in Jefferson College, 
and rallied under his standard when President Lincoln called 
for additional troops to save the imperilled Union, in the 
summer of 1862. Enlisting at the close of his Junior year, 
and almost at the close of the eighteenth year of his age, 
Paxton served for eleven and a half months as a private 
in the ranks. He was promoted to Sergeant, August 7, 
1863, and attained to the grade of Second Lieutenant, De- 
cember 10, 1864. He was commissioned First Lieutenant 
April 16th, and to Captain May 16, 1865, by Governor Cur- 
tin, but owing to the reduced strength of the company was 
not mustered. He had the honor, therefore, of coming home 
with the Company as the acting Captain. 

Re-entering the college in the autumn of 1865, Captain 
Paxton completed the studies of the Senior year and was 
graduated in the class of 1866. He was graduated from the 
Western Theological Seminary in 1869, and took a post- 



594 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REG I M Eh T 

graduate course of one year at Princeton Seminary. In 
1870 he was called to the pastorate of a Presbyterian con- 
gregation at Churchville in Harford County, Maryland. 
Here he labored with increasing evidences of success, doing 
a notable work in building up the congregation and win- 
ning the hearts of the people by his social gifts as well as by 
his extraordinary pulpit powers. In 1874 he accepted a call 
to the Pine Street Church, of Harrisburg, and thus be- 
came the pastor of the church in which he had worshiped 
with his Company, as a private, on the seventh of Sep- 
tember 1862. (See page 9.) From the Capital of Pennsyl- 
vania he was called to the Capital of the nation four years 
later, ministering with singular ability and acceptance to 
large congregations in the New York Avenue Presbyterian 
Church from 1878 to 1882. His growing fame as a pulpit 
orator had attracted the attention of some of the leading 
representatives of Presbyterianism in New York, and in 1882 
he was induced to accept a call to the West Church of that 
city, where he ministered for some eleven years to a con- 
gregation remarkable for its wealth, liberality and culture. 
While in this position, Dr. Paxton served as Chaplain of 
the famous Seventh Regiment of New York City. As 
a member of the Union League Club, the Century Qui 
and other organizations of this character he was in fre- 
quent demand as an orator and after-dinner speaker. At 
the reunions of his Regiment he has always been an hon- 
ored guest and has made more public addresses, as the 
minutes will show, than any other speaker in or out of the 
regimental organization. In 1893 Dr. Paxton retired from 
active service in the ministry, and since that time has been 
living quietly in the comfortable home which was pro- 
vided for him and tendered as a gift by appreciative friends 
within the bounds of his congregation. At the Regimental 
reunions he is always sure of a cordial welcome, and his 
encouraging words and generous gifts have contributed not 
a little to the success and continuous existence of the 
organization.* 

♦Prepared from data furnished by Rev. Dr. Calvin Dill Wilson 
and other sources. 



FIRST LIEUTENANT J. JACKSON PURMAN. 

Company A. 

Lieutenant Purman was born on a farm in Greene 
County, Pa., in 1 841. At the age of 12 years he commenced 



PERSONAL SKETCHES m 

work in the printing office of the Wayne sburg Eagle and 
in his 16th year went to Illinois at a "Journeyman printer" 
and set type in the office of the Fulton County Democrat 
Voung 1'urrnan afterwards worked his way through the 
Waynesburg College, attending school in summer and teach- 
ing in winter until the close of his junior year. At this stage 
in his career his patriotism got the better of the classics and 
he entered the army to assist in putting down the rebellion. 
In the body of this work several references may he found 
to the efficient service rendered by Lieutenant Purrnan and 
the events which took place in connection with the great 
conflict beyond the wheatfield where he was maimed for 
life. After he had received his discharge on surgeon's cer- 
tificate, Lieutenant 1'urnian resumed his studies and was 
graduated in 1864. A touch of romance entered into the 
experiences of suffering which fell to the lot of this gallant 
officer at Gettysburg, which ought not to be omitted from 
the record. After his rescue from the hands of the enemy 
he was carried into the house of Mary Withrow in the 
town and was so tenderly cared for in this hospitable home 
that a feeling stronger than ordinary good will was awak- 
ened in his breast for the fair lady who had so graciously 
ministered to him. This feeling was fully reciprocated and 
in due time there was a marriage, as was eminently fitting, 
between the "brave and the fair" in the city of Washington, 
D. C. Mrs. Purman passed away some years ago and her 
body now rests in the National Cemetery on Arlington 
Heights. Comrade Purman took up the study of law and was 
admitted to practice at the bar. In 1H72 he removed to Wash- 
ington City and entered one of the Departments as clerk by 
civil service examination. Since this time he has taken up 
the study of medicine by availing himself of night lectures 
and was Medical Director of the Department of the Potomac, 
G. A. R. in 1891, the year the organization reached the "high 
water mark." He was aide on the staff of General John 
Palmer in 1892 and on the staff of Eli Torrance in 1902. He 
is also a charter member of the United States Medal and 
Honor Club of Washington, D. C. 



CAPTAIN JOHN AULD RURNS. 

Company A. 

John A. Burns, son of William and Elizabeth AuM 
Burns, was born July 2, 1843, and celebrated his twentieth 
birthday in the "Vortex of Death" in the wheatfield at Gettys- 



396 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

burg. One of his paternal ancestors, Alexander Burns, 
was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1739, and when but a 
lad of fourteen was impressed as a "powder boy" into the 
British navy and served during the seven years of the 
French and Indian War. When he was set at liberty, he 
remained in America and was one of the first five thousand 
men to cross the Alleghenies and settle in the wilder- 
ness district then known as Westmoreland County. When 
the war of the Revolution broke out he enlisted as a private 
in Lieutenant Colonel Robinson's Company of the First 
Pennsylvania Regiment. On a foray against the Indians 
in Ohio Burns was captured and remained with the sav- 
ages as a prisoner for three years. Escaping near Detroit, 
he trudged alone through the forests to his home, near 
the present village of Burnsville in Washington County, 
Pa. John A. Burns, who proved to be a worthy successor 
of this old-time hero of the Revolutionary days, was a 
sophomore in Waynesboro College in Greene County when 
he responded to Abraham Lincoln's call for 300,000 men, 
and in the general history the manner of this response is 
described. (See page 5.) He began his military career as 
a Second Sergeant and by regular promotions reached 
the grade of Captain. Of his four promotions, three were 
due to the fact that in each case his superior officer was 
killed or disabled in battle. He received his "baptism of 
fire" at Chancellorsville, and was with his Regiment in all 
the great battles from that time until the close of the war. 

He was in the "Bloody Angle" at Spottsylvania, in the 
awful slaughter at Cold Harbor, in the battle and siege 
of Petersburg, and on the Appomattox campaign. Sunday 
morning, April 9, 1865, he was on the skirmish line across 
an old wagon road, a short distance from Appomattox 
Court House. The lines of the two armies were less than 
one hundred yards apart. He saw General Lee on his white 
horse ride out with his Staff between the lines, dismount, 
and seat himself under an apple tree by the wayside to 
await the coming of General Grant. When Colonel Babcock, 
of Grant's Staff, rode up, Lee mounted and rode through 
the lines of his company to the McLean House, where the 
terms of the surrender were arranged. 

April 6. he was with his Regiment when Lee's wagon 
train was attacked, captured and burned at Sailor Creek. The 
portion of the train to which his Regiment came contained 
the officers' baggage. One of his Company took therefrom 
the uniform of General John B. Gordon. The Captain took 
a leather case containing a complete toilet set belonging to 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 307 

Brigadier General Hunter. It is a treasured memento in 
his family to-day. 

April 7, in command, he led his Regiment in the heroic 
but disastrous charge at Farmville. For the heroism of that 
day the Regiment was given the place of honor at the sur- 
render of the Army of Northern Virginia. 

On this campaign he was one day in command of the 
flankers. About noon he came upon a similar body of 
Confederates eating their lunch by a little stream in the 
woods. A nasty little battle occurred. A Confederate sword 
hanging in the home of his brother in Macomb, Illinois, 
is a mute reminder of the issue of the struggle. 

After taking part in the Grand Review at Washington, 
he was mustered out May 31, and reached home June 5, hav- 
ing commanded a regiment of men in one of the great bat- 
tles of the war when only twenty-one years of age. 

The war made a deep impression on his moral and 
religious nature, and he determined to enter the sacred 
ministry that he might teach men the gospel of peace and 
good will. He entered Waynesburg College in October, 1865, 
and was graduated from the Scientific Course in September., 
1867. He went direct to Monmouth, took up the study of 
foreign languages and was graduated from the College in 
1869, and from the United Presbyterian Seminary in that 
city in 1872. He was pastor of the Church at North Eng- 
lish, Iowa, four years, and of the First United Presbyterian 
Church of Lawrence, Massachusetts, two years, when he 
was stricken with Bright's disease and passed to the other 
life March 28, 1878. His remains rest in Mount Wollaston 
Cemetery in Quincy, Massachusetts, near where lie the bod- 
ies of two Presidents of the United States. 

In 1871 he married Eliza Hardwick of Quincy, Mass. A 
daughter of this union survives. She is the wife of Profes- 
sor Hall of Millbury, and as active in Christian work as was 
her father, His widow still lives in Quincy, Mass.* 
♦Abbreviated from sketch prepared by Professor James C. Burns, 
of Macomb, Illinois. 



CAPTAIN SILAS PARKER. 
Company D. 

Captain Parker was fifty years old when he marched to 
the front with Company D. With more courage than, per- 
haps, strength, he did his part until May, 1863, when he was 
brought home very sick, and lived only until June 23d. He 



39« THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

is buried at Amity, Pa. Comrade Parker was a man who 
attracted much attention because of his soldierly appear- 
ance. His care of the men was most commendable. When 
the pickets on the Rappahannock returned one cold February 
morning and reported that one of their number, Harvey 
Swart, was unable to get in, Captain Parker got an ambu- 
lance at once and, going to the picket post, brought him in. 
He was nearly frozen, however, when found, for the cold 
of the night was intense.* 
* Memorial Day Address, by Manean Sharp, Amity, 1903. 



LIEUTENANT J. FULTON BELL. 

Lieutenant Bell, of Company D, was promoted from 
Corporal to Sergeant, June 1, 1863. On the 1st of Novem- 
ber of the same year he was promoted to First Sergeant. 
For bravery and efficient service he was commissioned First 
Lieutenant, July 20, 1864, and served in that capacity until 
his muster out with the Regiment, May 31, 1865. At this 
time he was the only commissioned officer in the Company, 
and was the acting captain. Manaen Sharp reports him as 
living on the same farm from which he enlisted, and adds: 
"At the presidential election in 1864 the soldiers were about 
to vote. Company D was in front of Petersburg, where 
eevrything had to be done under cover. Captain Bell was 
president of the election board, John Clauser and John Kelly 
inspectors. Only seven votes were cast, and while examining 
them, a large shell from the 'Goose Neck' battery struck 
and exploded right in their midst, covering them with dust 
and earth, but not a man was hurt." 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL GEORGE A. SHALLEN- 

BERGER. 

George A. Shallenberger, a brother of the Adjutant of 
the Regiment, enlisted in Company I, and at the organiza- 
tion of the company was elected the Second Lieutenant. On 
the 26th of November, 1862, he was promoted to Captain and 
Assistant Quarter Master, United States Volunteers. Fol- 
lowing this appointment, he was assigned to the Second Divi- 
sion of the Second Army Corps. 

In the report of Major John Gibbon, commanding the 
Second Division, dated November 7, 1864, with respect to 
the operations of his Division since the 3d of May preceding, 
special mention is made of the services of Captain Shallen- 
berger as follows : 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 399 

"Captain G. A. Shallenberger, Assistant Quarter Mas- 
ter, and Captain T. S. Coombarger, Commissary of Sub- 
sistence, were unremitting in their several positions, and the 
sick, wounded and well wanted for nothing which their 
zeal and energy could supply." 

At a later date Captain Shallenberger was promoted by 
brevet to Lieutenant-Colonel for meritorious service, and 
was assigned to duty as Chief Quarter Master of the Second 
Army Corps. This gave to him a position on the staff of 
Major-General Hancock, which he filled with entire accept- 
ance and conscientious fidelity. 

In his case we have one among many instances where 
men of the One Hundred and Fortieth were called or pro- 
moted to special service, apart from their own companies 
of the Regiment, and in the rendering of this service, re- 
flected high honor upon the command to which they origi- 
nally belonged. 



CAPTAIN JOHN FLEMING WILSON. 
Company G. 

The most reliable information concerning the early life 
of Captain Wilson and the noble service which he rendered 
to his imperilled country is embodied in the following sketch, 
prepared by a classmate, the Rev. B. T. Jeffers, D.D., his- 
torian of the class of 1862, Jefferson College: 

"John F. Wilson was born at Uniontown, Pa., October 
10, 1839, and studied under Prof. S. B. Mercer, at Dunlap's 
Creek Academy. He entered the college near the close of 
the Freshman year, May 6, 1859. With many of his class 
and college mates he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred 
and Fortieth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers Infantry, 
August 22, 1862. He was in active service till shot through 
both arms at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. His father, the 
Rev. Samuel Wilson, D.D., brought him to his home and 
sent him back well, October 13, 1863. He was commissioned 
Second Lieutenant, July 4th, and afterwards Captain of his 
Company. He led his Company through the bloody battles 
with the Army of the Potomac till March 25, 1865, when, 
while in command of his company on a skirmish line, in 
support of General Sheridan, as he was cutting through the 
Confederate forces, on the South Side Railroad, a ball 
plunged through the femur of his right thigh, shattering it 
so that his friend, Surgeon J. W. Wishart, found it neces- 
sary to amputate near the third division. He died of 



400 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

pyaemia, April 15, 1865, at two o'clock, five hours before 
President Lincoln breathed his last. His father and uncle 
were with him for two weeks before his death. They, 
President Lincoln, who stopped to talk with the wounded 
captain, and the attending surgeons, all admired the wonder- 
ful courage and manliness, the cheerful equanimity with 
which he bore his sufferings, the loss of his limb, and finally 
met death itself. Rev. John R. Paxton, D.D., of New York, 
who was a member of Company G, says: Tf I am worth 
anything as a Christian and a minister, I owe it largely, 
under God, to Captain Wilson. His character as a Chris- 
tian was an argument for Christianity that my skepticism 
could not gainsay.' 

"This noble classmate lies buried in the churchyard be- 
side the House of God where his father preached for thirty 
years, whence, he being dead, yet speaks words of Chris- 
tian manliness to all who knew him. His father, eighty- 
three years of age (1887), writes an excellent letter. In 
reading it I could scarcely tell which I most admired, the 
brave son or the father who told, so modestly, and yet so 
appreciatively, the story of his son's heroism." 



SERGEANT ISAIAH L. COLLINS. 

Sergeant Collins was born December 14, 1845. He en- 
listed in Company E, August 12, 1862, as a private. Was 
promoted to Corporal January 24, 1864, and to Sergeant 
February 10, 1865. He was wounded July 2d at Gettys- 
burg and at Todd's Tavern May 8. 1864. At the battle of 
Farmville, the last engagement by any body of troops in 
the Army of the Potomac, Sergeant Collins was taken pris- 
oner. He remained in charge of the Johnnies until the sur- 
render of General Lee. Hence he was present at Appo- 
mattox, but on the Confederate side. Being let go, he went, 
however, to his own company. Comrade Collins has served 
for twenty-five consecutive years as Justice of the Peace 
in his place of residence, Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, and is 
proud of the record that no decision he has made in that 
time has ever been reversed by a higher court, also of the 
fact that he has never prosecuted or entered suit against 
anyone and never was prosecuted or sued except at his own 
solicitation in order to settle an estate as executor. His 
family consists of ten boys and six girls. Two of his 
children he reports as deceased. 




V 





Wm - A - ''"• Stockton, Captain. Alexander Sweeney, First Lieutenant. 
Wm. B. C.ok. Second Lieutenant. Benj. F. Powelson, First Sergeant. 



PERSONAL SKETCHES 401 

LIEUTENANT BENJAMIN F. POWELSON. 

Comrade Powelson served as First Sergeant of Company 
K from its muster in to September 27, 1864, when he was 
commissioned First Lieutenant of Company G, Forty-first 
U. S. C. T., and assigned to the Army of the James. In 
the campaign of 1865, which resulted in Lee's surrender, he 
had command also of Company I of the same Regiment. 

At Appomattox he was in the advance line under 
Sheridan. After the surrender of General Johnson he was 
ordered with his Regiment to the Rio Grande border. He 
was mustered out in New Orleans in October, 1865. Colonel 
Moore, editor of the Washington Reporter, on hearing this 
wrote: 

"Among the thousands of our youth who went out to 
confront the foes of our government on the field of battle, 
no more worthy one was to be found than Lieutenant Powel- 
son, no one who will be more warmly welcomed on his 
return." 

At the close of the war Lieutenant Powelson studied 
for the ministry, and since his ordination, July, 1867, has 
been in active, aggressive work in Missouri, Kansas and 
Colorado. Until recently he was the pastor of the Church 
of Boulder, Colorado, which reports a membership of over 
nine hundred, but he is now on the list of the honorably 
retired. Lieutenant Powelson wrote the history of Com- 
pany K, a valuable compend of the battles and marches of 
the company, from which frequent quotations have been 
made in the preparation of the regimental history. He also 
prepared the History of the Class of i860 of Washington 
College for its Semi-Centennial Anniversary at Washing- 
ton, Pa., in 1910. 



CAPTAIN WILLIAM A. F. STOCKTON. 
Company K. 

Captain Stockton was the son of the Rev. Dr. John 
Stockton, pastor of the Cross Creek Presbyterian Church. 
The company was recruited mainly through his efforts and 
influence, and he was made its first Captain. "He was of a 
generous and open-hearted disposition," says Powelson, the 
historian of the Company, "and served with faithfulness. 
On the 2th of July, 1863, he was detailed and sent back 
for duty at the General Recruiting Station at Pittsburg, 
Pa., where he remained until the summer of 1864, returning 



4«u THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

to the command of his Company, and was with it till it was 
disbanded, except that on several occasions, by virtue of his 
rank, he had command of the Regiment." He was brevetted 
Major on the 9th of April, 1865, for meritorious service, and 
was highly esteemed by his superior officers in the Brigade 
and Division. Soon after the close of the war he removed 
to Carituck, North Carolina, where he died in 1877. He was 
buried in the Cross Creek village graveyard near the home 
of his boyhood. 



BREVET CAPTAIN ALEXANDER SWEENEY. 

Company K. 

This popular and highly esteemed officer began his mili- 
tary career as the First Lieutenant of Company K. He was 
with his Company through the Chancellorsville and Gettys- 
burg campaigns. In December, 1863, he was detailed for 
service on the staff of General Barlow, the Division com- 
mander. After the transfer of General Barlow to another 
command he continued in the same relation to his successor, 
Major-General Nelson A. Miles, serving with him until the 
close of the war. 

Not long before his death General Miles was his guest, 
and between these comrades of the war there was a very 
close and tender intimacy. At this time and until he re- 
ceived the summons to join the "great majority," Captain 
Sweeney had the charge of the Steubenville Post Office. He 
attended many of the Regimental Reunions and the National 
Encampments of the G. A. R. and Loyal Legion, where he 
was always welcomed by friends and comrades for his genial 
manner and cheery disposition. He was identified with the 
United Presbyterian Church from boyhood, and his regular 
attendance at church was one of the marked characteristics 
of his life. He died at Steubenville on the 29th of April, 
1912, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. 



Part III 



Memorabilia 



Reunions — Dedications 

Camp-Fire Reminiscences 

Noteworthy Incidents 

Etc. — Etc. — Etc. 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS 4»3 

REGIMENTAL REUNIONS. 

The following resume of important acts and events re- 
lating to the annual meetings of the survivors of the Regi- 
ment was made from a careful review of the minutes by 
the Secretary of the Association, Comrade Henry J. Boyde, 
of Beaver, Pa.: 

It is not known who first conceived the idea of forming 
a regimental association of those who had served in the One 
Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania during the Civil War. 
However the thought of such an association appears to have 
been in the minds of many and found realization in a pre- 
liminary meeting held November 13, 1873, in the St. Charles 
Hotel, Pittsburgh, Pa., at which time Major Thomas Henry 
presided as temporary chairman and Adjutant William S. 
Shallenberger as Secretary. With but little discussion a 
permanent organization was formed with the following 
named officers, viz: General H. H. Bingham, President; 
Major Thomas Henry and Captain Isaac Vance, Vice-Presi- 
dents, Adjutant William S. Shallenberger, Recording Sec- 
retary; Chaplain J. Lynn Milligan, Corresponding Secretary, 
and Captain Alex. Sweeney, Treasurer. 

A constitution and by-laws was prepared and adopted 
at this meeting, the first article stating, viz : This body shall 
be known by the name, style and title of The Reunion Asso- 
ciation of the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Vol- 
unteers. 

Article 2. The objects of this Association shall be to 
cherish the memories, associations and friendships of the 
war waged in defense of the indivisibility and unity of the 
republic, to strengthen the ties of fraternal fellowship, sym- 
pathy formed from companionship in arms and to con- 
serve National honor, union and independence. 

Article 3. Every honorably discharged officer or sol- 
dier who may have served at any time in the Regiment may 
become a member, also the Governor of the State of Penn- 
sylvania and the general officers who may at any time have 
commanded the Corps, Division or Brigade to which the 
Regiment belonged shall also be entitled with their re- 
spective staffs to membership. 

The first reunion was held in Washington, Pa., Sep- 
tember 8, 1874, and they have been held annually since that 
time. At this reunion 118 members were present, and this 
number represents a fair average of the numbers present 
each year. The meetings have been held in various places, 



404 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

principally in the counties of Washington and Beaver, and 
have always been occasions of pleasure and profit and mak- 
ing, if possible, still stronger the peculiar tie that binds those 
who together endured the hardships of the soldier's life in 
camp and on the march, and also faced shoulder to shoulder 
the dangers of the battlefields. 

The hearty interest and hospitality shown by the citi- 
zens in the places in which the Association has met fully 
merits the praise given in resolutions passed from year to 
year in which we endeavored to show our appreciation. 
Through it all, however, there has ever been a note of sad- 
ness occasioned by the reading of the necrological report, 
thus reminding us that our members were being rapidly de- 
pleted by death. 

It would be difficult to say which of the reunions were 
the best, for the reason "they were all good. Two reunions, 
however, appear by the minutes as well in the memories of 
many as being particularly notable, the first of which was 
held in Washington, Pa., October 15, 1902, at which time the 
Washington College Centennial was being held. This occur- 
ing at the same time of the reunion, made a double attrac- 
tion to many graduates of the college who were also mem- 
bers of the Regiment. A number of these, as well as others 
of the graduates, had been prominent during the war, and 
had also become eminent in the religious, professional and 
political life of our country since its close, and were thus 
enabled to be present with us. Among them were Com- 
rades, General Harry H. Bingham, Rev. John R. Paxton, 
D.D., Captain Alex. W. Acheson and others, each of whom, 
by their masterful addresses, added a peculiar interest to 
the enjoyment of the occasion. Among the speakers of the 
evening was the Rev. J. P. Smith, D.D., of Richmond. Va., 
a graduate of the college. He had served on the staff of 
General Thomas J. Jackson, the noted Confederate, and 
known as "Stonewall" Jackson. In his address he referred 
to the death of the General, he being at his side when he 
died, and heard him say: "Let us cross over the river and 
rest under the shade of the trees." It has been said that the 
General did not utter these words, that they were but imag- 
inary, like the famous poem of Barbara Freitchie, and not a 
fact. Yet here we have in these minutes of the Association 
the testimony of a reputable witness who heard them and 
are referred to here in proof of their authenticity. 

Another reunion worthy of mention was held in Beaver, 
Pa., the entire affair being largely in the hands of Mr. Isaac 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS 405 

Harter and his wife, Mrs. Emma Roberts Harter, the daugh- 
ter of our Colonel who fell at Gettysburg. It had long 
been in the thoughts of Mr. and Mrs. Harter that they would 
at some time entertain the survivors of the Regiment and 
that they carried their thought to a successful issue was 
apparent and will always be in the memory of those who 
were present as the most enjoyable of the many reunions 
held. They have always had a deep and an abiding interest 
in the Regiment, and they occupy a warm place in the hearts 
of the members of the Association. 

The minutes are almost entirely mere statements that 
the Association met in such a place on such a date and the 
usual routine pertaining to the business of the meeting with 
reference to the entertainment provided. 

Matters of real historic value, however, appear in cer- 
tain minutes, where it very clearly sets forth that the Regi- 
ment was among the pioneers in starting the movement that 
led to the erection of the many monuments that now stand 
upon the battlefield of Gettysburg. 

The minutes of October II, 1881, show the appointment 
of a committee to act with Colonel Batchelder in accurately 
marking the position held by the Regiment in that engage- 
ment. The committee reported October 10, 1882, that the 
monument would be located on the roadway near the spot 
where heaviest loss occurred. Captain Samuel Campbell, 
of Company H, introduced a resolution authorizing the ap- 
pointment of a committee to raise funds to meet the expense 
of erecting a memorial shaft to mark the designated spot 
held by the Regiment the evening of July 2d. August 28, 
1884, the committee reported progress, and Comrades Shall- 
enberger, Sayres and Hartford were appointed to mark the 
spot and determine the inscription to go on the shaft. The 
shaft having been erected, the committee met in Beaver, 
July 17, 1885, and arranged for the unveiling and dedica- 
tion to take place August II, 1885, Comrade Short to be the 
Officer of the Day, Comrade Shallenberger to deliver the 
oration, and Comrade D. M. Pry to deliver the monument 
to the care of the Battlefield Commission. At the time 
appointed, twenty-seven members of the Regiment met and 
the monument was formally dedicated with appropriate 
ceremonies. The minutes at no time show the cost of the 
monument, which was paid out of funds of the Association, 
Voluntarily contributed. 

October 11, 1887, the attention of the Regiment was 
called to the then recent Act of the Legislature which pro- 



406 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

vided for the erection of monuments by the State for those 
regiments of the Pennsylvania Volunteers that had taken part 
in the battle and appropriating out of the moneys of the 
State $1,500 for each of such regiments, the monuments to 
mark the places held by them on that field. A committee 
was at once appointed to act with the State Commission and 
Battlefield Association in the matter. October 9, 1888, the 
committee reported progress and was authorized to push 
the work to completion ready for dedication. The com- 
mittee was also empowered to purchase a piece of ground 
in the field on the opposite side of the avenue from the posi- 
tion held by the earlier monument erected by the Regiment, 
if they deemed such action necessary, in order to comply 
with the rules of the Battlefield Commission as well as with 
the wishes of the Regiment in the matter of location. 

The minutes indicate that this piece of ground was 
bought at a cost of $75. 

This monument having been completed, the Association 
met at Gettysburg, and on September 12, 1889, was formally 
dedicated with impressive ceremonies in the presence of 216 
of the survivors and a large number of spectators. At the 
dedication, Comrade Short was Officer of the Day, Com- 
rade Sloan received the monument from the State Commis- 
sion, and Comrade Shallenberger made the historic address. 

October 14, 1890, the Monument Committee was granted 
full power to act in the matter of having the first monu- 
ment erected, and known as the little monument, removed 
to another location. From year to year resolutions were 
passed relative to this matter, but never brought to a con- 
clusion. 

October 9, 1894, the Chairman of a committee appointed, 
at a previous meeting, to make report with recommendations 
as to what action, if any, should be taken in reference to the 
address published in the Second Volunteers of Pennsylvania 
at Gettysburg, said to have been delivered on the battle- 
field by Major St. C. Mulholland at the dedication of the 
monument of the One Hundred and Sixteenth Pennsylvania 
submitted his report. Here follows, spread in full on the 
minutes, a carefully prepared and exhaustive report on this 
remarkable address which closes by saying: "We pronounce 
its statements as to the position and movements of our Regi- 
ment as utterly at variance with the facts. Not for one 
moment were we without a field officer. Not for one moment 
did Major Mulholland have command of our Regiment. 
Not one step did we follow him toward the Peach Orchard. 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS *>7 

The whole story is a play of fancy and a figment of the 
imagination." 

It was then ordered that a copy of this report be for- 
warded to the Gettysburg Battlefield Commission, with re- 
quest that such action may be taken as in their judgment 
may be due our Regiment. 

An appendix follows which occupies thirty-one pages 
of the Minute book and consists of copies of the reports of 
field and staff officers, Division and Brigade, made at the 
close of the battle, as well as the report of our own Colonel 
John Fraser, all of said reports showing most conclusively 
the inaccuracy of the statements made by Major Mulholland 
regarding the position and movements of our Regiment. 

October 18, 1898, the statements of Major Mulholland 
regarding the movements of the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Regiment were again brought to the attention of the Battle- 
field Associations, whereupon the following resolution was 
offered and unanimously approved, viz: Whereas, Major 
St. Clair Mulholland, of the One Hundred and Sixteenth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, sets forth the remarkable state- 
ment that the Regimental monument of the One Hundred 
and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers is wrongly placed 
and that we as a regiment are not entitled to the claim of 
having been on the right of the First Division of the Sec- 
ond Army Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg; 

Resolved, That both of these statements are unfounded 
and have been overruled by the Commission. Second. That 
his statement claiming to have had command of the One 
Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania at any time on the even- 
ing of July 2d is absurd and without any foundation in fact. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser was in continuous command after 
the death of Colonel Roberts. 

After the passage of these resolutions, twenty-four 
members of the Regiment who were present and who had 
taken part in the battle came forward and stated they each 
had personal knowledge of the facts stated in the resolu- 
tions and of the inaccuracy of Major Mulholland claims. 

The Reunion at Canonsburg, Pa., in 191 1, will be re- 
membered as one of the most interesting and important of 
all our annual meetings. 

The community manifested just pride in the distin- 
guished record made by its own gifted citizens who were 
members of Company G. 

Comrades J. Brad. Johnson and Oliver Paxton welcomed 
the survivors of the Association and gave them a splendid 



40$ THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

reception. It was at this meeting that the long-talked-of 
scheme to publish a Regimental History was brought to a cul- 
mination. Comrade W. L. Shallenberger named a com- 
rade of Company G, Robert L. Stewart, as particularly well 
qualified to undertake the work. Comrade John R. Paxton 
promptly and warmly seconded the suggestion, and pledged 
his best efforts toward the securing of a fund which would 
make possible the work. Others heartily approved and plead 
for decisive action. The Historian expressed his grateful 
appreciation of the confidence shown in him, doubted his 
ability to command the time and material necessary, but 
finally saw a vision of duty and privilege and accepted the 
commission. 

From time to time resolutions are found upon the 
minutes authorizing the publishing of a History of the Regi- 
ment. Such work as may have been done in accordance with 
these resolutions failed for many reasons to materialize. 
September 12, 191 1, the matter was again brought before the 
Association, as above stated, which resulted in the appoint- 
ment of the following-named comrades as a committee to 
prepare and have published such a history, viz: 

Rev. Robert L. Stewart, D.D. Hon. William S. Shallenberger 
Rev. John R. Paxton, D.D. Thomas Henry, Esq. 

Harry J. Boyde 

This committee at once began the work so that at the 
time of this writing it is evident that the committee will be 
able to report at the coming reunion, the completion of the 
work and that the book is ready for distribution. 

At the time of the organization of the Association 
Rev. John Lynn Milligan LL.D. was elected Secretary and 
continued as such until his death, July 12, 1909. Very much 
of the success attained in our reunions was the result of 
his work. As Chaplain of the Regiment he had greatly 
endeared himself to the members thereof, not only by his 
tender interest in their religious welfare, but also by his con- 
stant efforts to relieve the sick, his courage in reaching and 
alleviating the suffering of the wounded, his soothing min- 
istrations to the dying, and his care for the bodies of the 
dead. As we read his name and that of others on the pages 
of the minutes of the Association who have passed away 
from year to year, we rejoice that we have been permitted 
to know and to have had association with such men. May 
such lives be an inspiration to us all. 




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REGIMENTAL REUNIONS 409 

one hundred and fortieth pennsylvania volunteers. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., Nov. 13, 1873. 

Pursuant to call, the comrades of the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers met in prelimi- 
nary reunion at 2 o'clock, P. M., in the parlors of the St. 
Charles Hotel. 

Major Thomas Henry was elected temporary chairman, 
and Adjutant W. S. Shallenberger secretary. On motion the 
chair appointed a committee of three on permanent organi- 
zation, viz: Adjutant W. S. Shallenberger, Captain J. M. 
Ray and Chaplain J. L. Milligan, who submitted the follow- 
ing report : 

President. — General H. H. Bingham. 

Vice-Presidents. — Major Thomas Henry and Captain 
Isaac Vance. 

Recording Secretary. — Adjutant W. S. Shallenberger. 

Corresponding Secretary. — Chaplain J. L. Milligan. 

Treasurer. — Captain Allex. Sweeny. 

And recommended a finance committee of three, and 
an executive committee composed of one from each com- 
pany, with the president and secretary as ex-officio members. 
On motion the report of the committee on organization was 
adopted. The chair appointed as a committee on finance, 
Corporal J. G. Sloan, Private Joshua Weaver and Sergeant 
R. H. Cooper. 

Nominations were then made for an executive commit- 
tee, and the following persons appointed: 

Company A — Lieutenant Thornton Hedge. 

Company B — Captain A. C. Grove. 

Company C — Captain J. M. Ray. 

Company D — Sergeant Henry C. Swart. 

Company E — Captain A. T. Gregg. 

Company F — Lieutenant D. Singleton. 

Company G — Captain W. N. Paxton. 

Company H — Captain S. Campbell. 

Company I — Sergeant R. W. Anderson. 

Company K — Sergeant George Ralston. 

On motion, Resolved, That the first general reunion 
shall be held on Tuesday, September 8, 1874, to convene at 
2 o'clock, P. M., and close with a banquet in the evening. 

General John Fraser was elected orator of the day, with 
Major Thos. Henry as alternate, and Washington, Pa., 
selected as the place of meeting. On motion. 

Resolved, To extend a special invitation to the com- 



410 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

manders and staff officers of Brigade, Division and Corps, 
with which the One Hundred and Fortieth was connected, 
and a general invitation to comrades of other regiments 
to meet with us on reunion occasions. 

On motion, all comrades of the One Hundred and For- 
tieth Pennsylvania Volunteers desiring to become members 
of the "Reunion Association" are hereby requested to send 
their names and post-office address to the secretary for en- 
rollment. 

On motion, a unanimous vote of thanks was tendered 
the proprietor, of the St. Charles Hotel, for the courtesy 
shown, in proffering the free use of his parlors upon this 
occasion. On motion. 

Resolved, That all newspapers published in the several 
counties of Washington, Beaver, Mercer and Greene be re- 
spectfully requested to publish these proceedings. On 
motion. 

W. S. Shallenberger, Secretary. 

REUNION OF VETERANS. 

The Eighty-fifth and One Hundred and Fortieth Regi- 
ment Pennsylvania Volunteers held their annual reunions at 
Washington upon Tuesday of last week. The Eighty-fifth 
had held one reunion last year at Uniontown, but the One 
Hundred and Fortieth had never met together as a regiment 
since they were mustered out of the service at the close of 
the war. 

The committees having the management of the reunions 
had made ample arrangements for the accommodation of 
their comrades, and for their comfort and enjoyment, and 
all that was needed to make the meetings a success was fine 
weather. 

The day opened bright and fair, and soon the town 
began to put on her gala day dress, flags were flung to the 
breeze from many dwellings and public buildings, and every 
one seemed anxious to give the veterans a hearty welcome. 
Knots of soldiers and citizens were to be seen through the 
streets greeting some returned brave, as one by one they 
arrived in town. The headquarters of the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Regiment was at the office of James P. Saver, 
Esq., in the Fulton House building, from whose window- 
hung the beautiful silk flag of Company C, which had been 
presented to them by our fellow-townsman, N. F. Brobst, at 
the time of their departure in 1862, and which has since 
been in the possession of Mrs. Hon. A. W. Acheson, mother 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS 411 

of the gallant Captain David Acheson, so well remembered 
by our citizens for his sterling worth and honor, and whose 
memory is so fondly cherished by his comrades for his noble 
daring in the field of strife. In front of the headquarters 
hung the banner of the Regiment, presented to Major Henry 
by the ladies of Beaver, upon which was inscribed the names 
of the battles in which the Regiment took part. The fol- 
lowing is the list of battles: Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
Bristow Station, Pine Run, Todds Tavern, Wilderness, Cor- 
bins Bridge, Po River, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Totopot- 
omy, Coal Harbor, Petersburg, Strawberry Plains, Deep 
Bottom, Reams Station, Hatchers Run, Sutherlands Station, 
Sailors Creek, Cumberland Church and Appomattox. On 
the reverse side was the corps mark of the Regiment and 
the date of its muster into service. The headquarters of 
the Eighty-fifth was at the office of Major H. J. Vankirk, 
in Caldwell's building, from which hung the tattered flag 
of the Company. 

Around these headquarters were crowds of soldiers of 
the respective regiments and their comrades of other organ- 
izations, extending and receiving warm and hearty welcomes. 
Shortly after ten o'clock the members who had arrived in 
town, formed in procession and marched to the Chartiers 
depot where they received large numbers of their comrades 
and escorted them to their respective headquarters. The dis- 
play as they marched through the streets was very fine, 
although not attended by music or flying banners. The men 
presented a very fine appearance, and we may truly say that 
never before has our town been visited by any body of men 
who created and left a more favorable impression upon our 
people than the soldiers of the Eighty-fifth and One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth. 

Shortly after the arrival of the Chartiers train, the West 
Alexander brass band arrived in their wagon. 

After the greetings and handshaking were over, and 
the members had registered their names upon the rolls, 
they separated to their different places for dinner. At two 
o'clock the Eighty-fifth met in the Court House and the 
One Hundred and Fortieth in the Town Hall for a business 
meeting. The meeting of the One Hundred and Fortieth 
was called to order by Chaplain John Milligan, upon whose 
motion Adjutant Shallenberger was called to the chair. Ad- 
jutant Shallenberger, upon taking the chair, thanked his 
comrades for the high honor conferred upon him. He would 
rather their choice would have fallen upon some one older 



4U THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

in the service and more experienced than he. He invoked 
harmony and good feeling in all their deliberations and 
hoped that whatever was done would be done for the best. 
The Adjutant's remarks were well received, and the ap- 
plause which greeted him fully attested that the Regiment 
was well satisfied with its choice. Upon motion, Chaplain 
John Milligan was unanimously chosen secretary. The sec- 
retary read an abstract of the minutes of the meeting of 
the officers of the Regiment held in Pittsburgh, November 13, 
1873, which called this meeting. The roll was then called, 
when one hundred and fifteen members responded. 

Major Thomas Henry delivered the oration, being a 
rapid review of the engagements in which the Regiment 
had participated during the war. 

At the time all the officers and committees were chosen 
and a permanent organization effected. The interest then 
awakened and systematized has never grown less. It comes 
together each year with its camp fires of friendship burn- 
ing brightly. It gives an opportunity to look each other in 
the face and clasp hands in manly recognition and gather up 
the charms, the dangers and the victories of the undying 
past. 

The Regiment numbered over one thousand when they 
entered the service. Many who survived the campaign and 
were permitted to return to their homes, have since died; 
others have found homes in the West and South; some re- 
mained in the country where they fought, while some, en- 
grossed by cares and responsibilities of active business life, 
found it impossible to attend. After the call of the roll, let- 
ters were read from S. Potter, Jr., General W. S. Hancock 
and General H. H. Bingham. These letters were received 
amid great applause, and were as follows : 

Philadelphia, Sept. 4, 1874. 

My Dear Colonel — Enclosed find letter from General Hancock con- 
cerning the reunion One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment Pennsylvania 
Volunteers. I am of the opinion that it would be well to read the 
enclosed. If I can possibly be present at the reunion, I will do all in 
my power to reach that result. My father has been most seriously ill at 
my house for the past ten days; he is no better at present; I fear that he 
will not survive the present attack. 

If I cannot be with you I will telegraph on Monday to Washington. 
Explain the cause of my necessary absence. I am more than sorry for 
my present inability to join in the gathering. My trip to Washington 
would occupy several days and I never would or could forgive myself if 
any thing serious would take place during my absence. I will write you 
again. Very truly, &c, 

Henry H. Bingham. 
Col. Sharlenberger, Rochester, Pa. 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS 413 

New York, Aug. 31, 1874. 

My Dear General — I am in receipt of your kind note of the 25th 
instant inviting myself and staff, on the part of the Executive Committee, 
to be present at the social reunion of the One Hundred and Fortieth Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers at Washington, Pa., on the 8th proximo. 

It would give me great pleasure, I assure you, to accept and to meet 
the gallant soldiers of that distinguished Regiment, which I had the honor 
to command during a part of the late war, but I shall be prevented from 
attending the reunion by my absence in the West, having my arrangements 
all completed for starting to St. Louis to-morrow evening to be absent dur- 
ing the month of September. 

I am very truly yours, 

Winf'd S. Hancock, Maj. Gen. 

Falls City, Pa., Sept. 4, 1874. 
Mr. Alf. Beeson — Dear Friend: Your card of yesterday is received. 
I cannot express my disappointment and regret on account of my inability 
to attend the reunion of my old Regiment at Washington, Pa. I cannot 
secure a competent person to take charge of my business during the time 
it would be necessary to be absent. 

Please remember me to my old comrades of the One Hundred and 
Fortieth, and especially to the members of Co. E. I would name John 
Barkley, Jesse T. Power, and many others whom I have not time to name. 
But I must not forget Tom Kelly, the wild Irishman. Tell them I want 
them to come and see me. 

Yours truly, 

S. Potter, Jr. 

[telegram.] 

Philadelphia, Sept. 7, 1874. 

Col. W. S. Shallenberger — I had hoped up to this morning that I could 
be with you at the reunion. I now find, in consequence of family illness, 
that it is impossible. Express my sincere regrets. Thank the comrades 
for the honor conferred at the last gathering in having elected me Presi- 
dent. I wish for the perfect and complete pleasure of all who may meet, 
and trust that, at the next reunion, I may be with you in person, as I am 
with you now in spirit and full sympathy. 

Henry H. Bingham. 

A letter was also received from General Fraser, but had 
been left in Pittsburgh by Mr. Milligan. One was also re- 
ceived from Lieutenant J. J. Purman, but too late to be 
read. After the reading of these letters Sergeant Beeson 
suggested that when the Regiment adjourn, it march through 
the streets of the town, and that their comrades of the 
Eighty-fifth be invited to join them. He moved that a com- 
mittee of three be appointed to invite the Eighty-fifth to unite 
with them. The chair appointed Messrs. Sayer, Sweeney and 
Singleton for that purpose. 

The chair announced that the next business to be con- 
sidered was raising money to meet the expenses of the re- 
union and to provide a permanent fund for the organization. 
The mode to secure this would be an assessment upon the 
members present, which, he felt sure, would be largely in- 
creased by donations from absent members. Several sums 
were mentioned, and after a full interchange of opinion, it 



414 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

was finally determined to assess each member present the 
sum of $1.50, which would include a ticket to the banquet, 
and the Executive Committee were authorized to collect the 
amounts so assessed. While the Executive Committee was 
thus engaged, the committee appointed to invite the Eighty- 
fifth Regiment to join in the parade, returned and reported 
that the Eighty-fifth accepted the invitation and would join 
the procession. 

The business of the meeting being now nearly closed, 
the Regiment proceeded to the election of officers for the en- 
suing year, with the following result: 

President, General H. H. Bingham; Vice-Presidents, 
Captain Thos. Henry, Captain Isaac Vance ; Corresponding 
Secretary and Chaplain, John L. Milligan ; Recording Sec- 
retary, John L. Gow, Esq. ; Treasurer, Captain Alex. 
Sweeney; Executive Committee, consisting of one member 
from each company, consists of the following soldiers : 

Lieutenant C. T. Hedge, Company A ; Captain Craig, 
Company B ; Sergeant James P. Sayer, Company C ; Captain 
J. F. Bell, Company D; Sergeant A. G. Beeson, Company E; 
A. G. White, Company F; Sergeant William Pollock, Com- 
pany G ; Captain S. Campbell, Company H ; David E. Mc- 
Allister, Company I ; Silas Cook, Company K. 

The next business was the election of the place for the 
next reunion. It was unanimously conceded by Washing- 
ton county boys that the Beaver companies should fix the 
place. Beaver and Beaver Falls were suggested, and the 
claims and advantages of each urged by the respective par- 
ties. The meeting seemed pretty fairly divided upon the two 
places, and it was difficult to guess which would be success- 
ful, until a member announced that Beaver was the birth- 
place of Colonel Roberts, their gallant leader. At the men- 
tion of that name all claims for Beaver Falls were relin- 
quished and Beaver unanimously selected. 

It was suggested that, as the Roundheads (One Hun- 
dredth Pennsylvania) would probably hold their next re- 
union at Beaver, this Regiment hold theirs at the same time, 
and the Executive Committee were instructed to confer with 
the Executive Committee of the One Hundredth, and if a re- 
union of both regiments could be held at the same time, 
the time so fixed would be announced not later than 
June i, 1875. 

The meeting then proceeded to elect an orator for the 
next reunion, when Adjutant W. S. Shallenberger, of Roch- 
ester, Pa., was unanimously elected, with Chaplain John 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS -U5 

L. Milligan, of Allegheny City, Pa., alternate. 

This closed the business meeting, and the members 
formed in procession, Captain Craig, Marshal, and marched 
to the front of the Town Hall, where they were joined by 
the Eighty-fifth. 

The Eighty-fifth Regiment met in the Court House and 
organized, appointed committees, etc. (see proceedings, roll, 
etc., on our third page) after which they adjourned to join 
the One Hundred and Fortieth in a procession. 

After the procession the regiments returned to the hall, 
when the conventions adjourned to meet at 7 o'clock in the 
Town Hall to listen to the addresses of the orators previ- 
ously elected. 

The meeting at 7 o'clock was large and very orderly. 
Colonel Norton McGiffin, veteran of the Mexican War, 
and Colonel of the Eighty-fifth, was called to the chair, and 
Captain A. C. Grove, of the One Hundred and Fortieth, 
Vice-President. 

Colonel Norton McGiffin introduced Boyd Crumrine, 
Esq., orator of the Eighty-fifth Regiment. Mr. C.'s address 
was exceedingly neat in language and style, and delivered 
with much force. 

After the conclusion of Mr. Crumrine's address, Major 
Henry was introduced and gave a historical sketch of the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, which was quite in- 
teresting and well received. 

After the meeting adjourned the members of the Regi- 
ments, together with invited guests, soldiers of other or- 
ganizations and citizens, marched to the Fulton House, where 
a banquet was prepared. The spacious dining hall of the 
hotel was beautifully decorated with flags, wreaths and 
flowers, while the tables groaned under their loads of all 
the delicacies of the season. The hall was soon filled 
and it was found that the many who held tickets were un- 
able to procure seats. Messrs. Little & Melvin announced 
that another table would be prepared as soon as the first 
was served, and those on the outside accepted the "situa- 
tion" gracefully, and not a murmur or syllable of discon- 
tentment was heard. 

After the banquet a meeting was organized in front of 
the hotel, when loud calls were made for Sergeant T. L. 
Noble, who responded in his usual humorous style. He 
was followed by Adjutant Shallenberger, Sergeants Sayer 
and Cook, Chaplain Milligan, Lieutenant James S. Stocking, 
of Company A, One Hundredth Pennsylvania; Rev. Samuel 
J. Wilson and H. J. Vankirk. 



4i6 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Want of space prevents us from speaking at length of 
these orations. They were all short, earnest and eloquent; 
some referring to the deeds done by comrades, some in feel- 
ing and touching words to the fallen, whose graves are on 
every battlefield, and all invoking a spirit of brotherly love 
toward each other. These men continued until midnight, 
when Chaplain Milligan proposed that all present join in 
singing the long metre doxology. 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 
Praise Him all creatures here below, 
Praise Him above ye heavenly host, 
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

Which was done in fine style, the audience standing with 
uncovered heads. After this the meeting dispersed, each 
going his way feeling that he had enjoyed a very pleasant 
day — and the reunions were over. We cannot close this 
account without speaking of the dignified manner in which 
all present conducted themselves; not a single thing occurred 
to mar the happiness of anyone. The soldiers were gentle- 
men in every sense of the word. Of all the vast crowd of 
strangers present, there was not one who did not deport him- 
self in the most respectful manner. They were a body of 
fine looking, intelligent, honest men, met to renew the friend- 
ships of other days, and shoidd they ever revisit Wash- 
ington, they may be sure of a hearty welcome. 

At the Waynesburg Reunion in 1887. 

Mr. French, a member of the Regiment, made an im- 
promptu speech, narrating some incidents. He said several 
of the boys were standing about a spring. One held a cup 
in his hand ready to take a drink when the ball from a sharp 
shooter's rifle struck the cup, cutting it all away but the 
handle. The soldier looked in the direction of the source of 
the ball and said, "Johnnie, you can't do that again." A. J. 
Scott, of Rutan, and a member of Company A, spoke of the 
farmer leaving the plow in the furrow and going to war. 
He said he knew a man who broke a clevis while at work in 
the field. He left the plow and went to the blacksmith to 
have the clevis mended. He enlisted, and after being mus- 
tered into Uncle Sam's service, and getting ready to put on 
the uniform, put his hand in his coat pocket and found his 
clevis pin which was needed on the farm. Dr. Paxton related 
an incident of Col. McCullough and himself. They were 



REGIMENTAL REUNIONS 417 

sitting on the ground taking a lunch of hardtack and coffee, 
when a solid shot dropped near them and threw dirt into 
McCullough's cup of coffee. The colonel looked in the direc- 
tion of the enemy and said, "we'll get even with you yet, 
Johnnie." 

Reunion of 1902 at Washington, Pa. 

Col. A. Louden Snowden, of Philadelphia, speaking of 
"The Alumni in the Army and Navy," at the college gym- 
nasium yesterday, among other things, said: 

In the Jefferson College, Class of 1861, on the call of 
Abraham Lincoln, 26 students in a class of 56 entered the 
military service of the United States, and in Washington 
College, in the same year's class, 5 out of 25 entered. In 
the Jefferson College class but two southern students en- 
tered the Confederate service. From the two colleges there 
were 58 graduates, from general officers to high privates, 
who died in our service, and 11 from Jefferson who died 
in the Confederate service. When we consider the large 
number of southern students at Jefferson, this appears a very 
small percentage. The figures are, however, taken from your 
records. 

There were from the two colleges 393 graduates who 
served under the old flag. Including the living and dead, 
from 1802 to the period of the union of the colleges at the 
close of the rebellion in 1865, there was over 13 per cent, 
that entered the national service. It is prudent, therefore, 
to estimate that in the war for the preservation of the 
Union, the living graduates, subject to a call for military 
duty and capable of bearing arms, more than 20 per cent, of 
the graduates of Washington and Jefferson College were 
enrolled in our army and navy. Patriotic as are the students 
of our American universities and colleges, no better com- 
parative statement of self-sacrificing patriotism can be 
found than is presented in this brief record. 

When we consider the ancestry, the blood lines of the 
great majority of the students who have been educated at 
Washington and Jefferson Colleges, and those who are now 
receiving instruction in this noble college formed by the 
indissoluble union of the two colleges, it is but reasonable to 
expect that every call of a patriotic character will be 
honored as was the call by our martyred president in 1861. 



4i8 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



WAR-TIME LETTERS— GENERAL ORDERS, ETC. 

Letter from Major Henry in Reference to Rescue of 
the Wounded at Chancellor House, May 3D, 1863. 

Providence Hospital, January 11, 1912. 
Professor R. L. Stewart. 

Dear Sir: — Your favor of January 8th was received. 
On May 3, 1S63, the One Hundred and Fortieth was sup- 
porting the Fifth Maine, composed of five brass pieces, 
which were located east of the Chancellor House. So 
accurate and rapid was the fire of the Confederate gunners 
that they had killed almost every man and horse in the 
battery. They killed several of our Regiment. I saw a man 
holding two horses by the head. They were attached to a 
caisson. A shot or shell came and struck him and tore him 
to pieces. It was after that that I was ordered to take my 
company into the house and remove the wounded. We en- 
tered at the east entrance of the house. If there were two 
hundred wounded Union soldiers and a room full of Con- 
federates and seven women in the house, this throws a flood 
of light on the whole matter and may afford the means of 
harmonizing the various statements. Thirty-three wounded 
soldiers and three women were all that Company "F" claimed 
to have removed, and they were brought out of the house 
from the east entrance, the Rebel gunners having ceased to 
fire. If other troops removed the great body of the wounded 
from the house, they must have been taken out from the 
rear entrance, of which we had no view. One of the 
wounded that we received from the house asked me if the 
Rebel gunners had ceased firing. I said I thought they had. 

I tried to find the headquarters of General Hancock, 
to deliver the three women into his hands, but in that mob 
in the woods I could not find him, and they were taken to 
the Chandler House. . . . 

Very respectfully yours, 

Thomas Henry. 

BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 

From Page 94 of Mrs. Hancock's Reminiscences. 
My husband writes, no date given : 

• ■ •••••• 

I have not recovered from our last failure, which should 
have been a brilliant victory. Hooker had two large Corps 



WAR-TIME LETTERS, ETC. 419 

(Meade's and Reynold's) which had not been engaged. He 
was implored to put them into action at 10 o'clock on Sun- 
day, when the enemy had apparently used up all their troops. 
He would not do it. Now the blame is to be put on Sedg- 
wick for not joining us; as if it were possible to do so with 
one Corps when we had six Corps, and this force was not 
considered strong enough to attempt to unite with Sedg- 
wick without risk to the command. But it seems that Provi- 
dence, for some wise purpose, intended our defeat. 

The day before the fight Hooker said to a general offi- 
cer, "God Almighty could not prevent me from winning a 
victory to-morrow." 

Pray, could we expect a victory after that? . . . Suc- 
cess cannot come to us through such profanity. 

Order Issued by General Meade on the Eve of the 
Gettysburg Battle. 

Headquarters Army of the Potomac, 

June 30, 1863. 

The Commanding General requests that previous to the 
engagement soon expected with the enemy, Corps and all 
other commanding officers will address their troops, ex- 
plaining to them briefly the immense issue involved in the 
struggle. The enemy is on our soil; the whole country now 
looks anxiously to this army to deliver it from the presence 
of the foe; our failure to do so will leave us no such wel- 
come as the swelling millions of hearts with pride and joy 
at our success would give to every soldier of the army. 
Homes, firesides and domestic altars are involved. The army 
has fought well heretofore. It is believed that it will fight 
more desperately and bravely than ever, if it is addressed 
in fitting terms. 

Corps and other commanders are authorized to order 
the instant death of any soldier who fails in his duty this 
hour. By command of 

Major-General Meade. 

Seth Williams, Assistant Adjutant General. 

The Battle of Gettysburg as Described by Adjutant 

W. S. Shallenberger in a Letter to His Brother, 

J. Lloyd Shallenberger, of Mt. Pleasant, 

Pa., Two Weeks After it Occurred. 

Rochester, Pa., July 18, 1863. 
Dear Brother Lloyd: 

After ten days of long and wearisome marches through 



420 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Virginia and Maryland, sometimes through mud and rain, 
and by night as well as by day, we found ourselves (Third 
Brigade, First Division of our Corps) on Wednesday morn- 
ing July ist, at a little place called Uniontown, some thirty 
miles southeast of Gettysburg. The rest of the Corps moved 
on ahead, leaving our Brigade to follow the trains as a rear 
guard. But shortly after starting the trains received orders 
to return to Uniontown and go into Park, and our Brigade 
had orders to join the Division on the front. This looked 
like work. The battleground had evidently been selected. 
At noon of Wednesday, while on the march, we discovered 
smoke rising in the direction of Gettysburg, and toward 
evening, as we neared Tarrytown, rumors were afloat of an 
engagement ahead, resulting in the loss of General Rey- 
nolds, which, of course, had a tendence to quicken our march. 
The road was filled with artillery moving to the front, am- 
munition trains, etc., so that our movements were necessarily 
delayed and rendered very wearisome. About eight o'clock 
in the evening our Brigade was halted for supper (coffee 
and crackers), after which we marched on until half past 
one o'clock at night. We were then within six miles of the 
advanced line, and had orders to lie down and sleep until 
early daybreak. The men were so utterly exhausted that 
even the certainty of a sanguinary engagement next day 
could not prevent them from sinking down into a sound 
sleep. At half past three o'clock Thursday morning we were 
again called to arms and, without breakfast, started for the 
scene of action, arriving on the plain south of Gettysburg 
about eight o'clock A. M. The position was a rising plain, 
terminating in a semicircular crest of hills, and over a mile 
in radius. Batteries were seen posted on and near the sum- 
mit all around, supported by heavy masses of infantry. 
Our Corps had position as reserve, to the rear and centre 
of the plain, in plain sight and range however of the crest. 
After forming line, we had instructions to stack arms 
and rest with accoutrements on. At that hour all was 
quiet, save an occasional shot from our batteries feeling 
the position of the enemy, or, perhaps, punishing too much 
audacity on the part of the Rebel pickets. Firing was kept 
up along the entire line of outpost pickets but was little 
heeded. Now and then it would become brisk, and a sup- 
port would proceed to the outer line. But nothing alarm- 
ing occurred during the day until three o'clock, the enemy 
not even firing a shot from any of his batteries up to that 
time. The men on the reserve were quietly napping on the 
grass. 



WAR-TIME LETTERS, ETC. 421 

I succeeded in getting an hour's sleep myself at noon. 
At three o'clock the picket firing grew lively, and it was 
evident the enemy were making a demonstration toward the 
left of our centre. One Division of infantry from the 
Third Corps (General Sickle's) moved across the plain 
toward the crest to be in readiness. The movement was 
beautifully made. Steadily in line of battle by Brigade the 
column advanced with colors flying and fixed bayonets 
gleaming in the sunlight. A sharp skirmish ensued be- 
tween the pickets, the enemy appearing in considerable force. 
One of our batteries opened upon them from the flank of 
the advancing infantry. Shot followed shot in quick suc- 
cession and the play had fairly begun. Simultaneously with 
this attack on the left centre I heard a shot from our bat- 
tery on the extreme right of our position. I turned to look 
and saw the smoke rise in a beautiful column. Again the 
curling smoke arises from the same point and a loud re- 
port succeeds — another shot and another. Battery after bat- 
tery opens; shot follows shot with such rapidity that the 
sound of each is swallowed up in one continuous roar of 
artillery as the music of the dashing wave is lost in the 
thunders of the cataract. Then it is one grows excited, 
enthusiastic and assured of the approach of sudden danger 
and eager to resist it, imagines he can see the gunners un- 
fettering the swift messengers of death with all that nervous 
energy the scene so well inspires. The design of Lee was 
plain. While apparently attacking in great force upon the 
left centre, he massed his troops for a terrific assault upon 
the right, hoping that attention was called away, he might 
turn our right flank. But Meade was prepared. His bat- 
teries were well posted and reaped a fearful harvest of 
death. While the cannonade was heaviest upon the right, 
a battery of the enemy obtained position upon the left, from 
which it began shelling us on the reserve. We fell back 
some distance to the rear and nearer the right wing, ready 
for any emergency there. The battery annoying us was 
soon silenced however, and it was evident to all that our 
forces not only held their position, but were advancing. 
About five o'clock the firing slackened somewhat on the 
right and centre, but was heard passing around to the left. 
The extreme left of our line was quite a prominent hill or 
small mountain, heavily wooded and very rocky. The enemy 
now endeavored to gain possession of that point, with the 
object of commanding the pike to Baltimore. Smoke was 
seen issuing from the hill above the tree tops. A severe 
infantry fight was going on, and one of our batteries was 



422 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

hurling grape and canister through the woods with that pe- 
culiar crashing sound which invariably heralds the progress 
of that most dreaded enemy of advancing infantry. The 
left becomes the centre of attraction. Our forces are 
gradually falling back. Our Division is the only one avail- 
able. "Fall in" the order comes. In a moment we move 
off toward the scene. The edge of the woods at the base 
of the hill is reached. I looked at my watch. It was just 
six o'clock. The Brigade moved on to the music of the 
storm ahead, which, apart from the discharge of fire-arms, 
sounded like a hail stbrm among the leaves and branches. 

We came to the brow of a little hill, a ravine was be- 
fore us, and then the ascent again. Wounded were passing 
by squads, going to the rear. Here and there the dead were 
lying. But no time to moralize. The Irish Brigade of our 
Corps was ahead engaging the Rebels and driving them a 
short distance. Our Regiment gave three loud cheers and 
moved on through the storm, until we reached a point in 
sight of the enemy, when the command to fire was given. 
Load and fire at will was the order following. There the 
opposing lines stood on that rocky hill. It was growing 
dark. The air was hot and heavy with smoke and alive with 
death or his angels — screaming shells and hissing bullets. 
Colonel Roberts fell early in the fight at the head and front 
of his Regiment, pierced through the breast with a ball. 
Here and there all along the line men were dropping and 
limping to the rear. 

The enemy were flanking us right and left. Soon we 
must fall back or be captured. No Brigade commander or 
aide to be seen. I spoke to Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser, told 
him the Regiment was flanked on the right. He then gave 
the order to fall back, seeing other regiments to his left 
do the same. I hastened to my position on the right to give 
the order there; had just given it and turned to move off, 
when I felt a shot through my boot in the calf of the leg. 
I started to limp away, but found I should fail. Several 
steps had been taken when my sword which had been drawn, 
and which I was using as a cane, was knocked out of my 
hand and broken in two. The Regiment was pressing close 
upon me, and the enemy had an enfilading fire from three 
sides. I could not stop, much less turn back. Several of 
the Regiment took hold of me and assisted me from the field. 
When they tired, others took hold. But I found I could not 
gain the rear in that way. told them all to leave me at a 
little log house which we had reached and pass on or they 
themselves would be taken. Two from Company H, how- 



WAR-TIME LETTERS, ETC. 423 

ever, refused to quit me, and we remained there to see the 
enemy pass on, driving our forces still further back. Two 
of their number (of the Phillip's Legion) remained with 
us as a guard I suppose. They did not offer to molest us, 
but talked in a manner which showed they were utterly 
tired of the war. By this time it was seven o'clock and 
growing dark rapidly. Soon the tide of the battle changed. 
The enemy came back, driven by our troops— fresh rein- 
forcements. Even the two who were guarding us were 
taken prisoners. The ground was regained, and we were 
again inside our own lines. I was carried to the rear on a 
stretcher by the same men who had kindly remained with 
me, then put into an ambulance and taken to a hospital, 
where my wound was dressed. 

I felt very grateful indeed when I discovered it to be 
only a flesh wound and saw that the ball had passed through. 
Thursday night I slept upon the ground with a blanket over 
me— or tried to sleep. The ground was already thickly 
covered for a wide space around with wounded, and all night 
long they came. The sound of ambulances hurrying up to 
the unfortunates, the groans and cries of those whose 
wounds were being dressed by the dim light of the candle, 
the low moans of others who in agony were waiting their 
turn for surgical attention to come, hours hence, all this 
was certainly a medley of sounds, but ill-calculated to lull 
one to sleep. Next morning, together with three other offi- 
cers from the Regiment who had received flesh wounds, I 
secured a bed on the floor in a little house nearby, where I 
lay during the heavy fight of Friday and until Sunday 
afternoon, at which time a wagon previously hired by 
♦George came to take us all to Littletown. There we took 
cars for Baltimore via Hanover Junction and thence home. 
The fight of Friday began early in the morning and was 
longer continued and more general than that of Thursday. 
Our Division was but a remnant and was not engaged. Gen- 
eral Zook, our Brigade commander, fell early in the en- 
gagement of Thursday, which accounts for the fact that we 
did not receive orders from him. 

I have not learned the entire loss of the Regiment. 
We took into the fight twenty-five officers and four hundred 
and ninety men. The loss in officers was three killed, nine 
wounded and two prisoners— fourteen in all. Enlisted men 
—killed, wounded and missing — will amount to a number 

*George A. Shallenberger, a brother, who was Quartermaster 
of Brigade. 



4^4 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

between a hundred and fifty and two hundred. (Two hun- 
dred and twenty-seven later report.) 

Lieutenant-Colonel Eraser escaped unhurt and now com- 
mands the Brigade during the temporary absence of Colonel 
Morris. Major Rodgers was taken prisoner. Captain Ache- 
son and Lieutenant A. M. Wilson, both from Washington 
County, were killed. The body of Colonel Roberts was 
brought home and buried from his residence in Beaver, 
yesterday, at ten o'clock. The funeral was large and services 
interesting and impressive. His loss will be deeply felt by 
the entire Regiment. I feel that 1 have lost in him one of 
the strongest friends a man can have. But his death is 
but an item in the great cost of this rebellion. His but the 
sacrifice of another noble life, upon the altar of consti- 
tutional liberty and law. 

My wound is doing well. I still use the crutches, and 
will, I suppose, until the sore heals upon the outside. Your 
letter to Father came to hand this morning. It seems the 
privilege of making a small donation to the government has 
fallen upon you this time. Well, better that than life. The 
friends at home are all well. *CyruS is still at Washing- 
ton. A batch of letters from George yesterday report him 
well, although not much pleased to hear of Lee's escape. 
With many kind regards to tMelinda and the little ones, I 
remain, 

Affectionately your Brother, 

William. 

A Reminiscence of Gettysburg. 

By J. J. Purman, M.D., formerly First Lieutenant One 
Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Infantry. 
The events of this story occurred well nigh fifty 
years ago at Gettysburg. Nearly all the actors in the drama 
have passed to the Great Beyond. I was a Lieutenant in the 
One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Infantry, Colonel 
R. P. Roberts, of Beaver, Pa.; General Zook's Brigade, 
Hancock's Corps. Our Brigade received the shock of the 
charge of General Wofford's brigade of Georgians, Long- 
street's Corps, on the afternoon of July 2, 1863, at the 
wheat field. After fighting for nearly two hours, with the 
loss of all our field officers, and with 241 out of 540 of my 
Regiment placed hors du combat, and surrounded by the 
enemy on three sides, we fell back in some disorder. 

♦Another brother. 
tWife of brother Lloyd. 



WAR-TIME LETTERS, ETC. 4^5 

My Orderly Sergeant, now Captain, J. M. Pipes, of 
Washington, D. C, and myself retreated together, and to 
recover our breath sat down a moment on a boulder at the 
southwest side of the field. In a few seconds I descried the 
enemy coming through the woods at a double quick, and 
said to the Sergeant, "We must get out of this or we'll be 
gobbled up." "Yes," he replied, and off we started toward 
our reserve forces. We had not gone far before we came 
upon an unknown comrade, badly wounded in the legs, who 
cried to us, "Comrades, carry me off." I replied, "We can't 
do that ; I doubt if we can get away ourselves, but we'll do 
the best we can for you." Suiting the action to the word, 
with the assistance of the Sergeant, I carried and placed 
him between two rocks, sheltered from the enemy's fire. 
Grasping his hand, I said, "Good-bye, comrade," and started 
on a run, to put as much distance as possible between me 
and the enemy. But my delay was fatal to me. When 1 
halted in response to the cry for help, they had a point- 
blank fire on me. Emerging from the woods into the wheat 

field, they shouted, "Halt, you d d Yankee, halt!" The 

broad wheat field was before me, the enemy behind me. 
Visions of Libby and Andersonville flitted through my brain. 
If I halt some careless or brutal fellow may shoot me after I 
have thrown up my hands. They can't hit me, anyhow, on 
a double-quick. These thoughts determined my will, and I 
refused to halt. 

In less time than it takes to write this sentence, I was 
brought down with an ounce of lead through my left leg. 
I called out to the Sergeant, who was about a rod ahead of 
me, "I am struck," and went down among the tangled wheat. 
A moment after he was also hit. Many have attempted 
to tell how it feels to be shot. At first there is no pain, 
smarting nor anguish. It is very like the shock of an electric 
battery. But that delusion soon passes and the acute pain 
follows, and you know that a missile has passed through the 
tender flesh of your body. When hit I was brandishing 
my sword, which I involuntarily threw some feet from me, 
where, point downward, it fell and remained sticking in the 
ground. The Confederate Regiment charged over me, and 
as it passed I read from the floating colors "Twenty-fourth 
Georgia." I now examined my wound and found that I 
was hit about four inches above the ankle, the ball passing 
through, crushing both bones. 

Stragglers were passing over the fields and shots were 
being exchanged. A member of the Pennsylvania "buck- 
tails" came by on a run. I called to him, "Come and cut 



42b THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

my boot off my foot." He knelt down and commenced 
cutting but his knife was duil, my boot thick and the pain 
great, so begging him to desist, he rapidly disappeared. 
The sun was now sinking behind Seminary Ridge, and as 
dusk came on all grew quiet around me. The dead and 
wounded of both armies lay thickly strewn over the wheat 
field,* which was still disputed ground. Placing my wounded 
leg in as easy a position as possible, I realized that "the 
night was left to darkness and to me." 

Never shall I forget that midsummer night. The almost 
full moon was shining, with drifting clouds passing over her 
face. At intervals a cloud obscured the moon, leaving in 
deep darkness the wheat field with its covering of trampled 
and tangled grain, boulders and wounded and dead men, then 
passing off revealed a ghastly scene of cold, white upturned 
faces. It was indeed a field; 

"Converse thick with other clay, heaped and pent, 
Friend and foe in red burial blent." 
The night wore on with no sleep for me, its quiet 
broken occasionally by the cries and groans of the wounded. 
One man not far away called repeatedly for his Regiment, 
"Oh. Seventh Michigan." As the streakings of light gradu- 
ally merged into morning there could be seen both the Union 
and Confederate skirmish lines. 

Soon the occasional shot, first on the one side and then 
on the other, multiplied into a desultory fire. The wounded 
near each other began to converse. The Michigan man was 
a Sergeant, wounded in the legs and seemed to suffer in- 
tensely. 

As the sun rose higher the firing grew hotter, our 
wounds more swollen and thirst more intense, and the pros- 
pect of our relief became exceedingly hopeless. The Michi- 
gan Sergeant asked me, "Have you any water?" I replied 
"No, but I have a little whiskey." "For God's sake give me 
some, I am dying from thirst." "I will if I can." and rising 
on my sound leg I threw my canteen with all my force, 
but it fell midway between us. After this I heard a ball 
make that peculiar thud, and the Sergeant cried out, "I'm 
struck again. My right hand was resting on my left arm 
and the ball passed through my hand and arm." He then 
asked, "Are you a praying man?" I replied, "I am." "Then 
prav for me." I prayed as best I could and I heard the Ser- 
geant say "Amen." If there ever was an earnest, sincere 
petition sent up to the Throne of Grace it was then. 

Growing tired lying so long in one position, I frequently 
rose on mv sound leg and hands to rest and look around. 



WAR-TIME LETTERS, ETC. 427 

Nothing could be seen except a line of blue on one side and 
gray on the other, and nothing heard but the crack of the 
rifles and the zip of the bullets in the wheat, or their well- 
known thud in the ground or the body of a wounded man. 
I had drawn my right leg up at the ankle, exposing it some- 
what when a ball struck me, passing through, between the 
knee and ankle. I shouted to the Michigander: "I've got it 
again through the other leg." 

Being much nearer the Confederate line than ours, I 
could see their movements clearly. Soon after I received my 
second wound I saw a soldier in front of their lines, I called 
to him : "I am twice wounded and am dying out here. Won't 
you bring me a canteen of water?" The Confederate re- 
plied: "I can't do it. If I attempt to come out there, your 
sharpshooters will think I am trying to rob you and pick 
me off." I answered, "Crawl through the tangled wheat, and 
you will not be seen from our side. At Chancellorsville I 
saved the lives of many of your men, who would have died 
from thirst." 

Moved by my pleading, the Confederate filled his can- 
teen at Plum Run, a small stream that flows through the Val- 
ley of Death, near their lines, and cautiously crawled toward 
me. When he reached me I drank and drank and thought it . 
was the sweetest water I ever had tasted. He then poured 
some on my wounds and cut the boots off my legs. After 
this I began to feel that I had a chance for life, if I could 
get out of the hot sun and from under the fire then constant 
over the field. I said : 

"This is a pretty hard place for a man to lie, between 
two fires. Can't you carry me out to where your line is 
posted on the edge of the woods?" "The way the balls are 
flying, if I should attempt to lift you up we would both be 
killed," he replied. "Well, let me get on your back and you 
crawl off the way you came." He agreed to this and started 
for their lines, crawling on hands and knees with me on his 
back. When about half the distance to the woods in which 
their lines were posted, feeling my hold relaxing, I said: "I 
can't hold on any longer," and from pain and loss of blood I 
fell unconscious from his back. 

The Confederate crawled back out of the wheat field, 
refilled his canteen at Plum Run and dashing the water in 
my face, brought me to life again. Awaking from my 
swoon, I asked: "Where am I? What is the matter?" He 
explained, and getting on his back again I held on till we 
reached the woods. Placing me under a tree on a rubber- 
blanket, he gave me a canteen of water and some Confed- 



4^8 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

erate biscuits and I gave him my watch as a souvenir. I 
had some money and other valuables, none of which were 
disturbed. I said: "Please don't take my sword belt, as it 
is a gift from friends at home," and he replied, "It shall 
not be taken." 

After lying in the shade and drinking copiously from 
the canteen I began to feel much relieved and said to one 
of the officers who had gathered around to see the wounded 
Yank : "Won't you have your stretcher bearers carry me to 
your hospital and Jet your surgeon look at my legs?" He 
replied, "Our men are very tired," and, while I was not re- 
fused, the answer implied that I was past surgical aid. Not 
long after this I saw a movement among the Pennsylvania 
Reserve Brigade under Colonel William McCandless on the 
opposite side of the field. 

I saw they were massing into columns by division for a 
charge, and said: "You need not trouble carrying me off; our 
boys are coming." The reserves poured in heavy volleys as 
they crossed the field, while the Confederates, after returning 
a few shots, rapidly fell back through the woods. Although 
the balls rattled among the rocks and trees about me, I 
enjoyed that charge hugely, for it meant victory. I recall it 
now as one of the most sublime sights I ever witnessed. 
One wounded man lying near the edge of the woods was 
very much afraid of being hit the second time. He shouted 
to the Brigade, at least 300 yards away, "Fire high ! Fire 
high !" Amid all that din of musketry his voice could not 
reach more than a few yards. The thing was so ludicrous 
that I, an almost dead man, could not refrain from laughter. 
The Confederates were now beaten at all points, and this 
charge across the wheat field was the last fighting of the 
Battle of Gettysburg. 

It was now nearly sundown, and as the evening shades 
came on the sounds of battle grew further and further 
away as the Confederates were driven beyond Sherffey's 
peach orchard. About 9 o'clock I heard the distant hum of 
voices and the trampling of feet. It was a detail with torches 
coming to gather up the wounded. Captain E. M. Robinson, 
Fifth Maine Infantry, of Phillips, Me., was in charge and 
personally put me on a stretcher and helped carry me to a 
barn used as a hospital at the foot of Round Top. Here 
on the next morning, I celebrated the Fourth of July by the 
loss of my left leg. Captain Robinson has several years since 
answered the last roll call. 

On the morning before the battle I had a presentiment. 
I was much impressed, and spoke to Sergeant, afterwards 



WAR-TIME LETTERS, ETC. 429 

Captain John A, Burns, of my Company, about it, making 
him my executor. He laughed at my forebodings, but did 
not dispel them. I was wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat, 
a conspicuous mark, and so before going into the battle 
exchanged my hat with James A. Woods, the drummer of 
my Company, for his cap. I never met him again until at a 
reunion at Gettysburg, twenty-six years afterward. His first 
salutation was "Lieutenant, where's my cap?" 

The unknown comrade whom I placed between two rocks 
to shield from the fire of the enemy, and in doing so received 
the shot which took off my leg, I have since learned was 
John Buckley, Company B, One Hundred and Fortieth Penn- 
sylvania Infantry, from Mercer County, Pennsylvania, who 
afterward died on the field from his wounds and exposure. 
For going out of the line of duty to save a comrade's life, 
the Congress granted me a medal of honor, which is in- 
scribed: "For gallantry at the battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 
1863." 

When this cruel war was over I thought one day, I 
would find my Confederate friend. I had just two facts to 
guide me. As the Confederate Regiment charged over me, 
I read on their flag, "Twenty-fourth Georgia," and while I 
was being carried on his back I noticed one bar of lace on 
his collar. So I was reasonably certain that a Lieutenant 
of the Twenty-fourth Georgia Regiment was my savior. 
Through the kindness of Hon. Garnett McMillan and Hon. 
Alexander Stephens, of Georgia, I found the man who did 
this heroic and self-sacrificing service. He was Thomas P. 
Oliver, then adjutant of the Twenty-fourth Georgia Infantry 
and for many years a resident of Athens, Ga. Many times 
since the war we exchanged letters and planned to meet each 
other and talk over "the times that tried men's souls," but 
never met until in June, 1907, when he, with a delegation 
of Georgians, visited the capital. I then had the pleasure 
of entertaining him at my house, and presenting him and 
his friends to President Roosevelt, who greeted us with 
great warmth of feeling, and with his usual emphasis in- 
formed us that he was "delighted" to see us. On December 
7, 1908, the Great Reaper claimed this brave and noble man. 
He had just been elected Alderman of his town, Atlanta, 
Ga., and died amid his honors and his friends. 



-430 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Captain Burns' Account of the Capture of a Confed- 
erate Wagon Train at Sailors' Creek, Virginia, 
April 6, 1865- 

(Extract from a Letter Written to His Father, April 24, 1865.) 

"On the morning of the 6th, we moved out (from 
Burkesville) and had not gone more than two miles when 
we discovered that we were marching nearly parallel to a 
rebel column and wagon train not more than a half mile 
distant. Two batteries were double quicked to the front and 
began shelling the train. I tell you now, they closed up 
quickly. Our brigade being in front was thrown right for- 
ward upon their rear which was just passing. To get to 
them we had to go down a gradual descent, cross quite a 
large creek, through which we plunged, and then up a long 
hill. On the way we passed a large fine residence surrounded 
with poultry of all kinds. Though we were going on double- 
quick and under a sharp fire, not a duck, chicken or turkey 
was allowed to cross our line. Every boy seemed deter- 
mined to have a fowl for dinner, if he should live to eat 
that meal. I knocked a chicken with my sword, grabbed 
it, and went on. Lieutenant Spragg was equally successful 
and when we reached the crest of the hill, there were not 
less than thirty chickens, six or eight ducks and two turkeys 
captured by the One Hundred and Fortieth. I note this as 
one of the very peculiar characteristics of the American 
soldier. We fought all day in sight of the train and just at 
night struck them such a blow at Sailors' Creek that they 
left the train and all its contents with several pieces of 
artillery. The One Hundred and Fortieth was the first or 
among the first to the train and officers' trunks and things in 
general were gone through in short meter. I could have 
gathered up a fortune in a few moments. I got into a Gen- 
eral's trunk and secured his toilet case and a few trophies. 
I did not look at the name; some said it was Hunter's, but 
other things gotten from the trunk had the name of General 
Harris. I harnessed up two mules with saddles and saddle 
pockets, got a contraband, gave him his orders and went on 
after the enemy. We drove them from the hill beyond and 
encamped for the night. I had me a servant, two pack mules, 
some flour, meal, bacon, sorghum and chickens. So we were 
going to live for a day or two, providing we didn't get shot."* 

*Note. — The train with its contents was burned ; a few mo- 
ments having been given to the men to secure any trophies they 
might wish to appropriate. Altogether it was a rare day for the 
gathering of the spoils of war. 



WAR-TIME LETTERS, ETC. 431 

In describing one of the engagements which resulted 
in the breaking up of the lines in front of Petersburg, Cap- 
tain Burns writes in the same letter: 

"At one time when the battle raged fiercest, while mov- 
ing by the right flank a solid shot struck some fifty feet in 
front of us, and bounding through the files of the Company, 
knocked the hat off one of our men. I don't know that it 
would have struck me, but I saw it in time to stoop and 
make a sure thing of what a moment before was an uncer- 
tainty. It passed over and a few feet behind me struck a 
poor fellow tearing him to pieces." 



Congratulatory Order. 

Headquarters, Second Army Corps, 
April 10, 1865. 

Officers and Soldiers of the Second Army Corps: 

I congratulate you on the glorious success that has 
attended the operations just closed. While awaiting the 
expressions of approbation from the country, from the Com- 
manders of the armies and of the Army of the Potomac, for 
the manner in which you have performed your part in the 
general plan, I cannot refrain from expressions of admiration 
at the noble spirit that has animated you throughout, at the 
brilliant exhibition of the soldierly qualities for which the 
Second Corps has been conspicuous. 

The rapid manner in which you pressed the pursuit 
from the moment the enemy was discovered in retreat, 
driving him before you by constant combat, over an unknown 
country, through dense undergrowth and swamps, from posi- 
tions which his advanced troops had entrenched, has, I 
believe, been unexampled. 

Being in direct pursuit the opportunities for large cap- 
tures were not yours; but despite the disadvantages you 
labored under, the results to the Corps have been the capture 
°f 35 g" uns - x 5 flags, 5,000 prisoners and the capture and 
destruction of 400 wagons with their contents, besides 
tents, baggage and other material, with which the road was 
strewn for miles. In addition you have contributed eminently 
to the general success and to the captures made by other 
Corps, by hemming in the enemy and preventing his escape ; 
and have done your share in the grand closing scene. 



432 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

In the operations before Petersburg your success was 
brilliant. General Miles, with the First Division was 
ordered to advance and attack the enemy, flushed with suc- 
cess over two divisions of another Corps, which they were 
pressing back; this was done in the promptest and most 
spirited manner. The enemy was driven back rapidly into 
his entrenchments with severe loss in killed, wounded and 
prisoners. 

In the plan of general assault upon the enemy's lines on 
the morning of the 2nd of April, this Corps was not to attack, 
but, nevertheless, the Second Division under General Hayes 
captured one of the enemy's redoubts with two guns and 
the Third Division, under General Mott, less favorably 
placed, captured and held the entrenched rifle-pits of the 
pickets under the fire of the main entrenchments. 

During the night of the ist inst., General Miles, First 
Division, had been detached under orders of Major-Gen- 
eral Sheridan and in the pursuit of the following day, at- 
tacked the enemy entrenched on a strong position, which 
was finally carried in the handsomest manner with the cap- 
ture of two guns, one flag and 600 prisoners. These great 
successes have been gained with comparatively small loss, 
but the rejoicing for our victory is tempered by the reflec- 
tion that in that loss many noble spirits are counted. 

In this brief glance at what you have done, I cannot 
attempt to award to each the full merit due, but must con- 
tent myself with thanking the Division Commanders: Major- 
General Miles, Major-General Mott, Major-General Barlow, 
and Brigadier-General DeTrobriand and the Commanders of 
the Artillery, Lieutenant-Colonel Hazard and through them 
the troops they command. My thanks are also due to 
Brigadier-General Hayes, who commanded the Second Di- 
vision when it carried the enemy's redoubt before Peters- 
burg. While enjoying the satisfaction of having done your 
duty to your country, it is a source of intense gratification 
to all, that the greatest military feat of the country was 
reserved as a fitting climax to the great deeds of that army of 
which this Corps has always been a part, the Army of the 
Potomac. 

(Signed) A. A. HUMPHREYS, 

Major-General Commanding* 

♦This order was read to the Second Corps on the day follow- 
ing the surrender of General Lee's Army, just before the marching 
back to Burkesville Tunction. 



WAR-TIME LETTERS, ETC. 433 

Coat With a History. 

John Purdy is attending the reunion of 191 1. He wears 
a coat with an interesting story. The coat is of the finest 
broadcloth and perfectly tailored. Wagons containing sup- 
plies for the Union Army had been captured by the Confed- 
erates, but Mr. Purdy, with several of his comrades, was 
fortunate enough to come upon a Southern wagon train and 
among the things confiscated was the coat, which had been 
taken by the Confederates some time before and which Mr. 
Purdy then appropriated for his own use. It is more than 
46 years since the incident occurred. 



434 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES AND NOTEWORTHY 

INCIDENTS. 

Eating Apples in 1904 Grown in Pennsylvania on 

Grafts from Sprouts Cut from a Tree which 

Was Used as a Defense Against Rebel 

Shells in 1863. 

Robert McClurg, of Company K, One Hundred and 
Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, in a recent communication 
relates that in the spring of 1863 he was in a detail of troops 
sent out to assist in laying pontoons for the crossing of the 
Rapidan. He thinks it was at Germanna Ford. While they 
were at this work the Johnnies opened on them with some 
batteries and the shells were a little troublesome, and for a 
time they had to seek shelter. McClurg found retreat behind 
an apple tree. He thought it was not as big as it ought to be. 
So he changed base to another affording better protection. 
After the storm of shell passed, the batteries being silenced, 
he, out of appreciation of the valuable service rendered him 
by the tree, cut from it some sprouts and sent them home by 
mail. A friend of his grafted the sprouts into young trees in 
the home orchard, and so to-day this venerable comrade sits 
under the branches of two apple trees grown from the grafts, 
and with peculiar relish partakes of the fruit thereof, not in 
the least annoyed by shrieking or bursting Rebel shells. 



"Keep Your Eye Skint." 

One dark, cold, sleety night about the 1st of January, 
1863, after we had arrived at "the front," Company A had 
its first experience on picket. Our location was on the bank 
of the Rappahannock north of Fredericksburg. I had heard 
as a matter of rumor that the orders were to have no fires on 
the front line, but I had heard nothing of the kind from any- 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 435 

one in authority. The officer who placed us on guard was a 
German, and when he left us the only instruction he gave 
was, "Keep your eye skint." We had the "fourth relief," and 
the picket whom we relieved left some few smoldering fires. 
There was plenty of fallen timber in the woods near us, and I 
ordered "the boys" to gather wood and keep up brisk fires 
till morning. 

In the morning we were relieved by a stylish looking 
Connecticut officer. I saw that he looked astonished when 
he saw the fires briskly burning. After saluting he carefully 
inquired my name and Regiment and took it down in a memo- 
randum book. I said to the boys as we marched back to camp, 
"You'll not have any trouble, but I will soon have a call to 
visit headquarters." General Hancock then commanded our 
division, and Major John Hancock, his half-brother, was his 
Assistant Adjutant-General. In a few days we had a division 
drill, at the close of which Adjutant Shallenberger informed 
me that I was ordered to report at Hancock's headquarters. 
I said to Captain McCullough, "I'm in for it now." Finding 
the headquarters tent, I entered and saluted Major Hancock, 
who apparently was waiting for me, when the following col- 
loquy occurred : 

"Are you Lieutenant Purman Company A, One Hundred 
and Fortieth Pennsylvania?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Were you on picket on the night (giving the date) of 
January?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Did you have fires on your line?" 

"Yes, Major, and big ones, too. I found some smolder- 
ing fires, and it was an intensely cold and sleety night, and I 
ordered the boys to gather wood and keep them up all night." 

"Did you receive no orders about fires on the front line?" 

"No, sir." 

"Wihat orders did you receive?" 

"Well, Major, the officer of the guard was a German, 
and the only order he gave me was to 'Keep my eye skint' ; 
and I did that all night." 



436 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

The Major turned his head to one side, and, placing his 
hand over his face, smiled audibly and said to me, "You 
can go." 

I presume the German Captain who had neglected to give 
me (a new officer) full instructions about the fires and my 
other duties as a picket, got a severe reprimand. I never saw 
him again, but he met the Second Lieutenant of my company 
on guard a few days afterward and describing me said, "You 
tell that Lieutenant that he loose much frient." 



A Mirth-Provoking Episode at Chancellorsvtlle. 

Captain Pipes contributes this and the following incident : 
My company (A) was, as usual, on the skirmish line dur- 
ing that battle. We were among the small pines of this wilder- 
ness region, and the enemy, hidden from our view, were throw- 
ing in among us shot and shell. During this cannonade a solid 
shot struck the ground in our midst and threw up about a 
cartload of Virginia clay. One of the company, a good soldier 
with very cross eyes, caught the full force of this upheaval, 
which caused him to whirl around like a top, clawing with 
both hands, to relieve the pain in his eyes. Aside from the 
immediate suffering, with which bis comrades truly sympa- 
thized, there was something so ridiculous in his unconscious 
antics that for the moment they forget the danger and indulged 
in a hearty laugh. 

On one occasion, after a hard march, the troops camped 
for the night in the vicinity of some farm buildings. Two 
or three comrades, including the narrator, had noticed a bee 
hive beside an old house and decided to slip out in the darkness 
for the purpose of "borrowing it." They were successful in 
locating it, and, taking it up, placed it on the shoulder of one 
of the party. After a run of several hundred yards a halt was 
called and preparations were made to dispose of the bees and 
appropriate the honey. Then, to the great disgust and dis- 
appointment of this foraging party, it was found that a colony 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 437 

of worms had preceded them and had destroyed both comb 
and honey. 



Christmas on the Rappahannock, 
by rev. john r. paxt0n, d.d. 

"Gentlemen, the chair of the Professor of Mathematics 
is vacant in this college; permit me to introduce to you Captain 
Fraser." Rah! rah! rah! and away we went and enlisted — 
to go to Richmond. It took us three years to get there. No 
wonder; there were so many Longstreets to make our way 
through ; so many Hills to climb ; so many Stonewalls to 
batter down; so many Picketts to clear out of the way. It 
was as hard a road to travel as the steep and stony one to 
heaven. 

No preaching, sir! Can't you forget the shop? Don't 
you know that you have squeezed yourself into that faded 
jacket, and are squirming, with a flushed face and short 
breaths, behind that sword belt, which had caused a rebellion 
in m edicts res? 

I started for Richmond in July, 1862, a lad eighteen years 
old, a junior in college, and chafing to be at it, — to double 
quick it after John Brown's soul, which, since it did not require 
a knapsack or three days' rations or a canteen or a halt during 
the night for sleep, was always marching on. On the night 
before Christmas, 1862, I was a dejected young patriot, 
wishing I hadn't done it, shivering in the open weather a mile 
back of the Rappahannock, on the reserve picket and exposed 
to a wet snowstorm. There was not a stick of wood within 
five miles of us ; all cut down, down, even the roots of trees. 
and burned up. We lay down on our rubber blankets, pulled 
our woolen blankets over us, spooned it as close as we could 
get to steal warmth from our comrades and tried not to cry. 

Next morning the snow lay heavy and deep, and the men, 
when I wakened and looked about me, reminded me of a 
church graveyard in winter. "Fall in for picket duty. There, 



438 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

come, Moore, McMeaus, Paxton, Perrine, Pollock, fall in." 
We fell in, of course. No breakfast; chilled to the marrow; 
snow a foot deep. We tightened our belts on our empty 
stomachs, seized our rifles and marched to the river to take 
our six hours on duty. 

It was Christmas Day, 1862. "And so this is war," my 
old me said to himself while he paced in the snow his two 
hours on the river's brink. "And I am out here to shoot that 
lean, lank, coughing - , cadaverous-looking butternut fellow 
over the river. So this is war; this is being a soldier; this is 
the genuine article; this is H. Greeley's 'On to Richmond.' 
Well, I wish he were here in my place, running to keep warm, 
pounding his arms and breast to make the chilled blood circu- 
late. So this is war, tramping up and down this river my fifty 
yards with wet feet, empty stomach, swollen nose." 

Alas, when lying under the trees in the college campus last 
June, war meant to me martial music, gorgeous brigadiers in 
blue and gold, tall young men in line, shining in brass. War 
meant to me tumultuous memories of Bunker Hill, Caesar's 
Tenth Legion, the charge of the Six Hundred, — anything but 
this. Pshaw, I wish I were home. Let me see. Home? God's 
country. A tear? Yes, it is a tear. What are they doing 
at home? This is Christmas Day. Home? Well, stockings 
on the wall, candy, turkey, fun, merry Christmas, and the face 
of the girl I left behind. Another tear? Yes, I couldn't help 
it. I was only eighteen, and there was such a contrast between 
Christmas, 1862, on the Rappahannock and other Christmases. 
Yes, there was a girl, too, — such sweet eyes, such long lashes, 
such a low tender voice. 

"Come, move quicker. Who goes there?" Shift the rifle 
from- one aching shoulder to the other. 

"Hello, Johnny, what are you up to?" The river was 
narrow, but deep and swift. It was a wet cold, not a freezing 
cold. There was no ice, too swift for that. 

"Hello, Johnny, what you coughing so for?" 

"Yank, with no overcoat, shoes full of holes, nothing to 
eat but parched corn and tobacco, and with this derned Yankee 
snow a foot deep, there's nothin' left, nothin' but to get up a 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 439 

cough by way of protestin' against this infernal ill treatment 
of the body. We uns, Yank, all have a cough over here, and 
there's no sayin' which will run us to hole first, the cough or 
your bullets." 

The snow still fell, the keen wind, raw and fierce, cut to 
the bone. It was God's worst weather, in God's forlornest, 
bleakest spot of ground, that Christmas Day of '62 on the 
Rappahannock, a half-mile below the town of Fredericksburg. 
But come, pick up your prostrate pluck, you shivering private. 
Surely there is enough dampness around without your adding 
to it your tears. 

"Let's laugh, boys." 

"Hello, Johnny." 

"Hello, yourself, Yank." 

"Merry Christmas, Johnny." 

"Same to you, Yank." 

"Say, Johnny, got anything to trade?" 

"Parched corn and tobacco, — the size of our Christmas, 
Yank." 

"All right; you shall have some of our coffee and sugar 
and pork. Boys, find the boats." 

Such boats ! I see the children sailing them on the small 
lakes in our Central Park. Some Yankee, desperately hungry 
for tobacco, invented them for trading with the Johnnies. 
They were hid away under the banks of the river for successive 
relays of pickets. 

We got out the boats. An old handkerchief answered 
for a sail. We loaded them with coffee, sugar, pork, and set 
the sail and watched them slowly creep to the other shore. And 
the Johnnies? To see them crowd the bank and push and 
scramble to be first to seize the boats, going into the water 
and stretching out their long arms. Then, when they pulled 
the boats ashore, and stood in a group over the cargo, and to 
hear their exclamations, "Hurrah for hog." "Say, that's not 
roasted rye, but genuine coffee. Smell it, you'uns." "And 
sugar, too!" 

Then they divided the consignment. They laughed and 
shouted, "Reckon you'uns been good to we'uns this Christmas 



440 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

Day, Yanks." Then they put parched corn, tobacco, ripe per- 
simmons, into the boats and sent them back to us. And we 
chewed the parched corn, smoked real Virginia leaf, ate per- 
simmons, which if they weren't very filling at least contracted 
our stomachs to the size of our Christmas dinner. And so the 
day passed. We shouted, "Merry Christmas, Johnny." They 
shouted, "Same to you, Yank." And we forgot the biting 
wind, the chilling cold ; we forgot those men over there were 
our enemies, whom it might be our duty to shoot before 
evening. 

We had bridged the river, spanned the bloody chasm. We 
were brothers, not foes, waving salutations of good-will in the 
name of the Babe of Bethlehem, on Christmas Day in '62. At 
the very front of the opposing armies, the Christ Child struck 
a truce for us, broke down the wall of partition, became our 
peace. We exchanged gifts. We shouted greetings back and 
forth. We kept Christmas and our hearts were lighter for 
it, and our shivering bodies were not quite so cold. 

— Christmas Number, Harper's Weekly, 1886. 



Who Got Colonel Roberts' Sword? 

When Colonel Roberts left for the front his fellow citi- 
zens of the town of Beaver presented him with a beautiful 
sword, scabbard and belt. On the scabbard was the inscrip- 
tion : "Presented to Captain R. P. Roberts by the citizens of 
Beaver." When the Colonel fell loving hands carried him 
gently and laid him behind one of the huge rocks abounding 
on that part of the field. But the brave men of Zook's Brigade 
and the other brigades of Hancock's Corps could not hold the 
line here and their dead and wounded were left on the field. 
When Colonel Roberts' body was recovered some time later it 
had been robbed of everything, including his sword. 

On the afternoon of May 6, 1864, the second day in the 
Wilderness, Carroll's Brigade of Hancock's Second Corps 
were driven out of their works by a fierce onslaught of the 
enemy. Stone's Brigade of Wadsworth's Division of the 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 441 

Fifth Corps (Warren's) had previously passed through the 
Second Corps line and halted to the left of the Wilderness 
Cross Roads. The brigade was reformed and was ordered 
immediately to retake Carroll's works, which they did and the 
brigade occupied the ground in the immediate front of the 
works when the fighting closed for the day. A picket line of 
the One Hundred and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania of Stone's 
Brigade was advanced into the woods where there were many 
dead of the enemy. 

Major John W Nesbit, of Oakdale, then a Corporal in 
Company D, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania 
(Captain J. F. Slagle's company) says in his company history 
that he noticed a scabbard worn by a Confederate officer which 
on examination proved to be the scabbard of Colonel Roberts, 
of the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania — killed at 
Gettysburg, and the scabbard was sent to and is now in posses- 
sion of the daughter of Colonel Roberts. 

Sergeant William R. Johnston, of Company D, One Hun- 
dred and Forty-ninth Regiment, of Bellevue, says that when 
their picket line deployed through the woods a comrade of 
Company I, James E. Mclntyre, of Huntingdon, stooped down 
and pulled a sword from the scabbard of a dead Confederate 
officer, a lieutenant-colonel, he thinks. He showed the sword 
to Johnston, who read the inscription and immediately 
advised him to send the sword to headquarters for return to 
Colonel Roberts' family, which Mclntyre did. In 1899 Mr. 
Mclntyre came to Beaver and through Senator Quay, who 
knew of the sword episode, was taken to Mrs. Harter, and the 
fact became known that she had never received the sword, much 
to Mclntyre's surprise. Mrs. Harter did receive the scabbard 
on which the inscription was and the belt, but the sword never 
came back. She states it was not inscribed and that the dead 
Confederate may ihave had it in his hand and it fell to the 
ground when he did and was picked up, and not having any 
marks to identify it was naturally retained by the finder. The 
testimony of the One Flundred and Forty-ninth's men is that 
it was the sword and not the scabbard that they saw and had. 
— Pittsburgh Gazette-Times, July 27, 19 10. 



44^ THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 
The Battle Flag of the Regiment. 

The first standard-bearer of the Regiment was Sergeant 
Robert Riddle, of Company F. Into his hands was given a 
brand new silk flag, whose stars were undimmed in their field 
of blue, and it was a pleasant sight to the eyes when its brightly 
tinted silken folds waved gracefully about him as he held it 
aloft on the parade ground or planted it on the color-line 
wherewith to align the several companies of the Regiment. 
Sergeant Riddle had the honor of carrying it through the 
smoke and flame of the three days' battle at Chancellorsville. 
where the Regiment had its first baptism of fire, and thence 
through Virginia and Maryland into Pennsylvania. Beyond 
the wheat field at Gettysburg he was stricken down by a minie 
ball which passed through his left lung. He fell heavily upon 
the flag, which was taken from under his body by Corporal 
Joseph Moody, of Company H, who passed it into the hands 
of another guard. Corporal Jesse T. Power, of Company E, 
while he attempted to place his fallen comrade in a more com- 
fortable position. Two of the color-guard were wounded 
about the same time. In order to save the flag from capture, 
as the line was then beginning to give way. Corporal Power 
carried it back through the wheat field to a place of comparative 
safety. It was then placed on the left of the One Hundred 
and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, and as many men as 
could be gathered up in the darkness were rallied around it. 
Sergeant Riddle was so seriously wounded that he afterwards 
received his discharge, and the flag meanwhile remained in the 
hands of Corporal Power. He carried it from Gettysburg to 
Spottsylvania. In the furious charge on the morning of May 
1 2th Power received two wounds and the colors fell to the 
ground. From two or three sources the statement is made in 
the body of the work (page 198) that another man, said to be 
a private of Company C, picked up the flag and was also 
stricken down with it. The name is given as Biddle, but this 
seems to be a mistake, as this name cannot be found on the 
muster rolls of any of the companies. 

In a recent communication Sergeant Beeson says : "I 




BATTLE FLAG OF THE 140TH P. V. 

Jesse T. Power, Color Sergt. who carried the flag from Gettysburg to Spottsylvama. 
David Taggart, Col r Sergt. who carried the flag from Spottsylvania to Appomattox. 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 443 

picked up our colors in front of the first line of works and 
while reconnoitering to charge the third line I was wounded, 
the ball entering my right cheek and coming out at the back 
of my neck. I was discharged November 21st on account of 
disability resulting from this wound." Elsewhere he adds: 
"I was knocked senseless for a time, about three minutes, so 
says John Fell, who was beside me at the time, as also was 
Corporal Taggart, of the color-guard, who took the colors, 
and, as I understood, carried them to the end. As the last 
duty I performed with the Regiment was to carry the colors 
and get shot down with them, I claim to be one of the color- 
bearers." 

In the judgment of the writer this is a valid claim 
which all his comrades will endorse by a hearty amen. 

Sergeant Taggart describes the events which took place 
in this assault and the after history of the flag, while in his 
charge, as follows : 

"The morning of May 12th found the One Hundred and 
Fortieth, along with about seventy other regiments, in close 
column, by division. I found myself in the center of the front 
division. Jesse Power, of Company E, was color-bearer. I 
was a corporal on the color-guard. Colonel Fraser came to 
us before the charge and told us to look out in the midst of 
the rush for the flag. We started for the Confederate works 
with fixed bayonets, our rifles being at right shoulder shift, 
and with a yell, mind you. In that terrible fighting mob while 
struggling through the brush and abattis I lost sight for a 
little while of Power and the flag. When I caught sight of it 
again it was in the hands of Beeson, another sergeant of Com- 
pany E. We were then in the Rebel camps in the midst of a 
terrible figiit. I asked Beeson where Power was. He replied 
he was shot, and another man also, before he picked up the 
flag. Just as he said this a bullet struck him in the face and 
knocked him down. That ended the conversation and I did 
not see him again for thirty-three years. I had been watching 
for an opportunity to get hold of the colors, and when Beeson 
fell with them I picked them up and was the color-bearer from 
that moment until the end of the war. I learned afterwards 



444 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

that the man Sergeant Beeson meant to name was Biddle, a 
private of Company C. I can't place him. 

"It fell to my lot while with the company to fight with a 
musket, but when I caught up the fallen standard of the One 
Hundred and Fortieth I resolved to do my very best to be a 
leader — for a good color-bearer must at times be that, regard- 
less of personal consequences. 

"The battle flag had a broad spear on top of the staff, which 
was shot off at Spottsylvania. It got another welt on the brass 
ring, near the top, the same morning. Another welt was made 
by a bullet in the flagstaff while in my hands at Cold Harbor. 
Altogether there were three welts made by bullets in the staff. 
No bullet ever struck me and I was a good bit bigger than a 
flagstaff. 

"Captain John F. Wilson and I led a charge on the 
evening of the 18th of June at Petersburg into the brush, 
through the mud and up the hill, right into the Rebel skirmish 
line. Neither one of us was armed. I had the old flag at full 
furl and he had an old cheese knife which he brandished in 
the air, but didn't we yell, and the Rebs all took to their heels 
and never fired a shot. I heard Wilson tell Paxton that night 
in the moonlight that Taggart was a 'brick.' 

"At Todd's Tavern Corporal James A. Lockhart, of Com- 
pany F, one of the color-guard, had seven bullet holes put into 
his blouse, and another guard from Company A was killed. I 
do not recall his name. When we charged the works in our 
front on the 25th of March, 1865, Smith Graham, color-guard 
of Company K was shot dead just beside me. At the battle of 
Five Forks the Confederate skirmish line, which had got partly 
to our rear, was firing into us, and made us mad. We faced 
about and charged them. The Rebs were in rifle pits and we 
could not see them until we were almost on them. I led the 
boys all the way, Jim Rankin right at my heels. We brought 
the Johnnies back with us and the shooting stopped." 

The old battle flag is now at Harrisburg with all its welts 
and scars. There is nothing left of it but the cord and tassels, 
a few rags of silk and the flagstaff. 

The Committee has secured an excellent photograph of 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 445 

the flag as it is, which may be seen in its place in this volume. 

They regret their inability to secure a photograph of Ser- 
geant Robert Riddle to place with Sergeant Power and Tag- 
gart alongside the old flag which he so worthily carried for 
nearly a year. 

Sergeant Taggart is a prosperous farmer in Western 
Kansas. He has harvested and threshed on his 480 acres of 
land 3,500 bushels of wheat and 1,500 bushels of oats this 
season, and the corn crop in sight he reports as most promis- 
ing. He lives in a comfortable home with his wife, his two 
children having flown the nest and established homes for them- 
selves; but to compensate for this he had four grandchildren, 
"and all girls," to perpetuate his name and fame. 



The following items, which will doubtless be of special 
interest to the survivors of the Regiment and their friends, 
were culled from a carefully written sketch of the One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth Pennsylvania, which was published by the 
Pittsburgh Gazette-Times in the spring of 1910: 

When the tide of civil war was nearing its height there 
was recruited in the immediate vicinity of Pittsburgh a regi- 
ment of as brave and true men as ever carried muskets or 
marched under the old flag — a regiment destined to win 
imperishable renown and bring lasting honor to the Common- 
wealth — and Gettysburg is but a chapter in the story of that 
renown. This regiment was the One Hundred and Fortieth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Colonel Richard P. Roberts. 

The Washington County companies came by a variety of 
vehicles to Pittsburgh on the old pike, the stage road, and 
received an ovation the entire way, and previous to departure 
for Harrisburg were quartered at Camp Howe, Oakland. 

The Regiment's first service was in guarding the Northern 
Central Railroad at Monkton and Parkton, Md., where the 
men were assiduously drilled. They joined the Army of the 
Potomac under Burnside after Fredericksburg and were 
assigned to Zook's Brigade of the First Division of the Second 
Corps, made famous by that renowned Pennsylvanian, Win- 
field S. Hancock, long its commander. 



446 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

The Regiment wintered at Falmouth, Va., and received its 
"baptism of fire" at Chancellorsville in May, where it was in 
the severe fighting in the vicinity of the Chancellor Mansion 
and lost heavily, but acquitted itself nobly. 

The Regiment in the Gettysburg campaign had the same 
officers, General John C. Caldwell, of Maine, commanding the 
First Division, in which Zook's Brigade was still the third, 
Cross' the first, the Irish Brigade the second, under Colonel 
Patrick Kelly, and that noted Pennsylvanian, John R. Brooke, 
now Major-General U. S. A., retired, the fourth. This was 
a fighting command, afterward led by him who is now Lieu- 
tenant-General Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A., retired, who suc- 
ceeded General Zook after Gettysburg in the command of the 
brigade. 

On the return of the army to Virginia the One Hundred 
and Fortieth was assigned to the First Brigade, then under 
the command of that sterling soldier, Nelson A. Miles. The 
badge of the One Hundred and Fortieth was a red trefoil, the 
badge of the First Division of the fighting Second Corps, and 
in this division the Regiment served to the end of the war, the 
division being first under General F. C. Barlow and on his 
retirement from wounds under General Miles. 

The One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers 
was one of the most illustrious regiments in the Union service. 
In proportion to its enrollment it lost more men than any other 
Pennsylvania regiment and only three others in the United 
States service had a greater percentage of loss officially. 

Brevet Major-General Zook. 

"The old boys of the One Hundred and Fortieth will be 
glad to know something of their slain General, Samuel K. 
Zook. He was born in Norristown, Pa., in 1823. When 
Samuel F. B. Morse, successful after many trials and dis- 
appointments, gave to the world the electric telegraph, General 
Zook was one of the first to see its importance and utility, and 
became one of the pioneers of telegraphy. Colonel William 
Bender Wilson, of Holmesburg, Pa., manager of the war 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 447 

department telegraph office in 1861-62, now president of the 
Society of the United States Military Corps, writes of General 
Zook as follows : 

"I never knew of Zook as a telegraph operator, as a 
sender and receiver or working as such in Pittsburgh. He 
appeared in Pittsburgh, however, in 1847 w ' tri Henry O'Reilly, 
of Rochester, N. Y., and was associated with him in building a 
line to Louisville via Cincinnati. August 3, 1847, ne opened 
the Office at Zanesville, Ohio, and the following week one at 
Columbus, and August 20 one at Cincinnati. 

"General Zook went to the front April 21, 1861, one week 
after Sumter, as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixth New York 
Militia. He served as Military Governor of Annapolis in the 
preliminary movements of the war. Then he returned to New 
York City and recruited the Fifty-seventh Regiment, of which 
he was the first colonel. He was made a brigadier-general 
November 29, 1862, and given command of his old brigade, 
the Third of the First Division of the Second Corps. He was 
with the Army of the Potomac in all its battles from first Bull 
Run to Gettysburg. He is buried at Norristown, where he 
sleeps beside his old commander and illustrious townsman, 
Winfield Scott Hancock, and his equally illustrious townsman, 
John Frederick Hartranft, where all have notable monuments." 

One of the first monuments on the Gettysburg field was in 
honor of Samuel K Zook, erected by his old command. It 
stands in the wheatfield. 



Miles and Caldwell. 



General Miles, the One Hundred and Fortieth's old com- 
mander, is well-known in Pittsburgh, where he has frequently 
visited. General John C. Caldwell is not well known here. 
When the Army of the Potomac under Grant was consolidated 
into three corps. General Caldwell, like our General "Tom" 
Rowley and many more brave and capable officers, was super- 
numerary, and so placed on detached duty. Even those great 
regulars, Sykes and Doubleday, were taken from the field. 



448 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

After the war President Grant sent General Caldwell to Val- 
paraiso, Chili, as United States Consul and later to Uruguay 
as United States Minister. Returning to this country, he 
located in Kansas, where he was last heard of. If living he 
would be seventy-seven years old. 

Pennsylvania is proud of the One Hundred and Fortieth 
and the men- are proud of their record, and when their bronze 
at Gettysburg reveals the story of their struggle in the wheat- 
field in the list of the Regiment's dead and wounded — the 
universal testimony will be — a gallant band, a glorious record. 



An Appreciation from One in High Standing 

and Honor. 

In a notable address by Matthew Brown Biddle, D.D., 
LL.D., at the twenty-fifth anniversary of the union of Wash- 
ington and Jefferson Colleges, the following reference was 
made to the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment : 

"Three hundred and ninety-three students are down in 
the records of the graduates as serving in the army — either 
Union or Confederate, but principally Union. Added to this 
is a large number who gave up their class in order that they 
might volunteer. Three classes in Jefferson College that I was 
acquainted with furnished ninety-five men for the volunteer 
armies, and one of them was Governor Beaver, who was here 
to-day. I wish he was here to-night. They were men of that 
kind. Whenever they engaged in this work their duty was 
faithfully done, and the record is something that we ought to 
preserve. If you ask whether they made good soldiers or not, 
let me in reply tell one story. It happened in 1863 that one 
regiment in the service of the United States Government might 
be characterized as a college regiment more than any other 
because it contained a great many students from Washington 
College and a great many, even more, from Jefferson College.* 

*To these might be added a number of student recruits from 
Waynesburg College also. 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 449 

It was the college regiment par excellence, although there were 
a great many others in which the colleges were represented. 
What kind of men were in that regiment ? Well, from Wash- 
ington there was the name of Robert Reed, one of the finest 
boys I ever knew, and there is the name of Acheson. These 
two names are typical of what they were. Over in Canons- 
burg it was very much the same. John Fraser was the Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel. They went off to the war and it happened, 
though we didn't know it then, that there was one turning 
point in that great conflict. It was at Gettysburg, culminating 
when Pickett's Division made that gallant charge. * * * 
"Now the records of the War Department show that 
scarcely in modern times has any regiment suffered so severely 
as did that One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania at Gettys- 
burg. Where they were and what they did some of you here 
know better than I, for you were there. But this I do know, 
that if we have anything to be proud of in this conflict of 
brother with brother we, as representing this college, can at 
least be proud that a regiment most distinctively a college 
regiment has a record for bravery unequalled, certainly unsur- 
passed in modern times." 



Two of the "Transferred" Who Rendered "Signal" 

Service. 

In the autumn of 1863 a call was issued for a certain 
number of alert, level-headed young men to serve as volunteers 
in the Signal Corps of the Army of the Potomac. 

These men were to be selected from regiments in the 
service, after careful examinations with respect to their ability 
and qualification. 

Two Corporals of Company G, Joseph B. Johnson and 
John R. Mitchell, responded to this call, passed the examina- 
tions satisfactorily, and in due course were transferred to this 
branch of the service. 

One of the principal duties of the men attached to this 
corps was to ascertain the position, strength and movements 



450 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

of the enemy and report the same by signal to Army Head- 
quarters. The stations occupied for this purpose were neces- 
sarily elevated positions on the outposts, and the men while 
on duty were exposed to great danger, especially from sharp- 
shooters, who were always on the lookout for signals and the 
men who gave them. 

Frequently the stations were on the tops of high trees. 
Comrade Johnson describes one which was 104 feet high, the 
first limb being 70 feet from the ground. Two young saplings 
were cut and a rude ladder with cross pieces made which was 
rested against this limb in order to make the climb easier and 
less hazardous. At best the most of these stations were giddy 
heights, and frequently it became necessary to climb trees in 
emergencies without any helps except those which nature had 
provided. On the 28th of October, 1864, while at an outpost 
near Dinwiddie Court House, Johnson was captured by guer- 
rillas. He was taken to Petersburg and after spending one 
night in a slave pen was sent with other prisoners by rail to 
Richmond. Here he remained a prisoner until February 5. 
1865. During this period of imprisonment he suffered greatly 
from scurvy, but after spending two weeks in a parole camp 
at Annapolis, Md., and a twenty days' furlough at home, he 
was able to return to the front. He was discharged June 25, 
1865, at Washington, D. C. 

Comrade Mitchell also served with great credit to him- 
self and to the Regiment, with which for more than a year, 
through many experiences of hardship and peril, he had been 
associated. 

From a letter addressed to Comrade Mitchell by his com- 
manding officer, Captain William H. R. Neel, November 21, 
1864, we quote the following incident which deserves a place 
in the records of the nation as well as of the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Regiment, which trained him in the first principles of 
military service and still claims him as one of its honored 
veterans : 

"During one of the engagements of the Second Corps 
with the enemy on the north of the James in August last, I 
had been directed to occupy a position on our line with 




CO G'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE RANKS OF nil' GOSPEL MINISTRY. 

Rev. Jas. S. Rankin. Rev. Robt. Laird Stewart, D.D. 

Rev. In... R. Paxton, D.D. Rev. Win. A. Kerr. 

Rev. S. B. McBride. Rev. George Murray. 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 451 

Pickett's Battery, where the movements of the enemy could 
be watched and reported. While engaged in that duty the 
enemy opened from a battery upon our skirmish line; a belt 
of woods on our left effectually concealing their battery from 
view. Our battery was unable to reply with effect and it was 
soon apparent that some point must be attained from which 
the enemy's guns could be seen, as well as to observe the effect 
of our shots. One position offered. That was on a high tree 
on our front ; but it was a post of imminent danger, exposed 
to a hot fire from the enemy. As soon as I made known to 
you my wish to have that point occupied you faltered not a 
moment, but sprang to your post with alacrity, and your 
important services were soon manifest. You directed the fire 
of our battery with so much judgment and skill as to dis- 
mount one of the enemy's guns and silence the remainder. 
While the engagement lasted, regardless of all personal danger, 
you remained at your post. 

"The importance of the service you rendered on this 
occasion may perhaps never be fully realized. Perhaps it may 
receive no further notice than the brief one I have given, but 
to you the proud consciousness of having done your duty will, 
I know be an ample reward. 

"With the fervent prayer that success may attend you in 
the glorious work in which you are engaged, that our govern- 
ment will be successful in speedily crushing out treason and 
peace and prosperity be restored to our beloved country, I am 

"Always your friend, 

"William H. R. Neel, 
"Late Captain and Acting Signal Officer." 



Veterans of the One Hundred and Fortieth Who 
Entered the Gospel Ministry. 

One of the most noteworthy things in connection with 
the roll of the Regimental Association is the large number of 
veterans who became ministers of the Gospel. 

So far as known the list foots up seventeen. Of this 



452 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



number Companies A, B, C, D and I have each contributed 
one ; Companies F, H and K two, while Company G has a list 
of six, four of whom are still living. This record, we believe, 
is unprecedented in the history of the regiments which served 
in the Civil War. 

The Committee was successful in securing the photo- 
graphs of fifteen of the seventeen ministers on its list. These 
have been arranged in two groups, the six of Company G 
constituting one and the remaining nine from the other com- 
panies another. (See groups facing pages ) The names 
and companies are herewith given : 



Rev. 



James C. Burns Company A. 

John L. Bailey Company B. 

Henry J. Boatman Company C. 

John A. Wright Company D. 

Benjamin A. Bonewell Company F. 

William J. Cooper Company F. 

George B. Murray Company G. 

William A. Kerr Company G. 

Samuel McBride Company G. 

John R. Paxton, D.D Company G. 

James Rankin Company G. 

Robert Laird Stewart, D.D Company G. 

Joseph Calhoun, D.D Company H. 

William G. Cowan Company H. 

John D. Irons, D.D Company I. 

Silas Cooke, D.D Company K. 

Benjamin F. Powelson Company K. 



A large number proportionally of the survivors of the 
war entered the other professions and several that might be 
named attained distinction in them, but we do not have suffi- 
cient data for the preparation of a list of each class or the 
names of those who took up these professions as a life work. 
The most notable of the representatives of these classes are 
mentioned, however, in the series of personal sketches. 




Group 2. 
SURVIVORS OF THE WAR WHO ENTERED THE MINISTRY FROM OTHER COMPANIES. 

Rev. B. F. Powelson, Co. K. Rev. John A. Wright, Co. D. Rev. Wm. (",. Cowan, Co. H. 
Rev. John D. Irons, I). I).. Co. I. Rev. Silas Cooke, D.D., Co. K. Rev. Henry J. Boatman, Co. C. 

Rev. John A. I '.urns Co. A. Rev. Wm. J. Cooper, Co. I. Rev. Jos. Calhoun, D.D., Co. H. 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 453 

A Winter Campaign of Two Days at Hatcher's Run. 
(From manuscript notes by Lieutenant Charles T. Hedge.) 

On the morning of the 9th of December our division 
received marching orders. We were soon equipped for service 
and at the word of command filed out on the road which led 
to the left in the direction of Hatcher's Run. One regiment 
of each brigade was left to hold the works. The Twenty- 
sixth Michigan of our brigade was left in the trenches while 
the rest of the command went to the front with the division. 
The morning was very cold and the ground was frozen hard. 
We soon passed the extreme left of our army, and were on 
the lookout for Rebs, a small force of cavalry being in the 
advance. When the report of their carbines gave notice of the 
presence of the enemy our Regiment was deployed on the 
skirmish line and sent forward. 

When we came to the edge of a strip of woods where 
our cavalry had been halted we caught sight of the Johnnies 
in a line of rifle pits on the other side of the stream (Hatcher's 
Run), about 800 yards distant. We were under a heavy fire 
of musketry while we halted here for a few moments; also 
when an advance was ordered down the sloping ground and 
through an open field directly in front of the enemy's position. 
When we reached the edge of the stream it was found to be 
too deep for fording. The Rebs had built a dam across it 
farther down and backed the water up with a view to pro- 
tecting their position from direct assault. They knew very 
well we could not cross it and made the best use of their 
opportunity. Here we were not more than 100 yards from 
the Rebs; they in rifle pits and we in line with nothing to 
protect us. To retreat would be as bad as to stay, as we should 
be obliged to flee up a rising piece of ground in fair view of 
the enemy. So we hugged the ground and let them fire away. 
There were some bushes on the edge of the run which partially 
screened us from view, but bushes would not stop bullets. We 
remained in this uncomfortable position for more than an 
hour, when another regiment marching up the stream felled 



454 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

trees across it, over which the rest of the brigade crossed and 
took the enemy in the flank. As soon as they saw that they 
were being outflanked the Johnnies began to jump out of their 
rifle pits and run. Then was our time to open fire with deadly 
effect, and realizing this the larger part of them kept close to 
the ground until they were taken by the flanking column. 

Company H was more exposed than any other company 
during the time we were lying on our faces, for the reason 
that there were but few bushes in their front. In less than 
an hour the company lost in killed and wounded eleven men. 
Corporal Robb had his clothes riddled with balls, but his body 
was untouched. His knapsack which he had placed as a shield 
in front of him had a frying pan strapped to the outside, and 
when he arose from this perilous position he found four holes 
in it which had been made by well-directed Rebel bullets. 
There was scarcely a man in this company who escaped with- 
out bullet holes in his clothing. That night a heavy snow- 
storm came up and we suffered much from the cold and 
exposure. The next day about 3 o'clock P. M. we started 
back to camp, the object of our expedition having been accom- 
plished. We reached the camp a little after dark, very tired, 
cold and hungry. Imagine our surprise, therefore, when we 
found that the boys of the Twenty-sixth Michigan had pre- 
pared a good supper, with plenty of hot coffee, for the men of 
our Regiment. This, I think, is the only instance of the kind 
on record. The two regiments were so frequently thrown 
together in battle and on the skirmish line that they affiliated 
more closely than the men of other commands and often ate 
and slept together at the noon halting place or the night 
bivouac. 



CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES, OTHER INCIDENTS 455 
The Dead of the Civil War. 
make other wars of the united states appear paltry. 

The campaigns and battles of the Civil War were on a 
scale of surpassing magnitude. There were more than a score 
of single battles, sometimes extending over several days, in 
each of which the losses in killed and wounded on the Federal 
side were greater than the aggregate of all our losses in all 
our other wars combined. How paltry seem the 5,000 killed 
and wounded in the War of 18 12, or the war in Mexico, or the 
war with Spain, compared with the 14,000 at Shiloh, 15,000 
at the Chickahominy, 13,000 at Antietam, the same at Fred- 
ericksburg, 16,000 at Chancellorsville, 23,000 at Gettysburg, 
16,000 at Chickamauga, 37,000 in the Wilderness and 26,000 
at Spottsylvania ! The grand aggregate of destruction fairly 
staggers the imagination, accustomed as we have been for 
more than a generation to the figures — 93,000 killed by bullets, 
186,000 killed by disease, 25,000 dead from other causes — a 
grand total of 304,000, about 1 in 9 of every man who wore 
the uniform. 

In no other war in all time has such respect been paid to 
the dead. Immediately after its close the Secretary of War 
was directed by Congress "to secure suitable burial places, and 
to have these grounds enclosed, so that resting places of the 
honored dead may be kept sacred forever." In seventy-nine 
separate and distinct national cemeteries the bodies of nearly 
300,000 soldiers who died during the Civil War are interred, 
and the decoration of their graves with flowers on a fixed day 
has become a national custom. Some of the cemeteries contain 
each a silent army of over 10.000 soldiers, in serried ranks 
marked by the white headstones, on nearly half of which is 
inscribed "Unknown." The world may be searched in vain 
for anything similar or kindred ; there is no other such impres- 
sive sight. — Scribncr's Magazine. 



Part IV 



Regimental Roster 

Jubilee Anniversary 

Woman's Auxiliary 

Afterword 



Index 



REGIMENTAL ROSTER 

FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS 



NAME AND RANK. 



Colonels 
•Richard P. Roberts 

•John Fraser 



Lieutenant-Colonel 
Thomas B. Rodgers 



Major 
"Thomas Henry 



Adjutants 
W. S. Shallenberger 



John M. Ray 

John S. Bryan 

Quartermasters 
Samuel B. Bentley 
R. B. Parkinson 

Surgeon 
•J. Wilson Wishart 

Assistant Surgeons 
William W. Sharpc 
•Benjamin F. Hill 
Chaplains 
Marcus Ormond 
J. Lynn Milligan 
Sergeant-Majors 
Henry J. Boatman 

Thomas O. Anshutz 

Quartermaster Ser- 
geants 
Cyrus Townsend 

Thomas C. Nicholson 
John W. Wiley 

•R. G. S. Smith 

Commissary Sergeant 
Thomas L. Noble 

Hospital Steward 
Joseph W. Lawrence 

Principal Musicians 
Josiah H. Carrol 

Jesse J. Morris 



Mustered In. 

Aug. 21, 1862. 
Sept. 9, 1862. 

Sept. 4. 1862. 
Aug. 2i, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Aug. 22, 1862. 



Sept. 12, 1862. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 

Sept. 12, i86j. 



Nov. 5, 1862. 

Aug. 22. 1862. 
Nov. s, 1863. 

Aug. 22. 1862. 



Aug. 21, 1862. 

Aug. 22, 1862. 

Aug. 25, j 862. 
Feb. 29, 1864. 

Aug. 22, 1862. 
Sept. 4. 1862. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 

M 

Sept. 4. 1 86a. 



Promoted from Captain of Co. F Sept 12, 1862; 
killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Promoted from Lieutenant-Colonel to Colonel July 
4, 1863; wounded at Wilderness and Spottsyl- 
vania, Va., May 12, 1864; captured at Peters- 
burg, Va., June, 1864; mustered out May 31, 
1865; died at Pittsburgh, Pa., June 4, 1878. 

Promoted from Major July 4, 1863; captured at 
Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged by special 
order April 27, 1865. 

Promoted from Captain Co. F May 1, 1865; mus- 
tered out May 31, 1865; died at Beaver, Pa.. 
Feb. 2i, 1912. 

Promoted from 1st Sergeant Co. F Sept 12, 1862; 
wounded and captured at Gettysburg July 2, 
1863; wounded at Todd's Tavern May 8, 1864: 
discharged on surgeon's certificate Oct, 1864. 
Washington, D. C. 

Promoted from 1st Lieutenant Co. C Dec. 10. 
1864; to Captain Co. C Dec. 13, 1863. West 
Alexander, Pa. 

Promoted from Principal Musician Dec. 12, 1864. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Dec. 5, 1864. 
Promoted to Quartermaster-Sergeant Dec. 12, 1864. 

Promoted from Assistant Surgeon Oct. 25, 1862: 
mustered out May 31, 1865. 

Promoted to Surgeon 163d P. V. Jan. 13, 1864. 
Mustered out May 31, 1865; died Jan. '20, 1910. 

Uischarged June 8, 1863. 
Mustered out May 31, 1865. 

Promoted from private Co. C Sept 12, 1862; cap- 
tured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
May 15, 1865. 

Promoted from Sergeant Co. F May is, 1865; 
mustered out May 31, 1865. 



Promoted to Quartermaster 211th P. V. Oct. 18 

1864. 

Promoted to 2d Lieutenant Co. I Dec. 19, 1862. 
Promoted from Sergeant Co. C Dec. 23, 1864 

transferred to 53d P. V. May 30, 1865! 
Promoted from Sergeant Co. E, date unknown 

killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Promoted from private Co. K Sept. 18, 1S62 
1 mustered out May 31, 1865. 

Promoted from private Co. H Sept 27, 1862 
mustered out May 31, 1865. 

Promoted from Musician Co. G March i, 1864 

mustered out May 31, 1865. 
Promoted from Musician Co. K Dec. 22, 1864 

mustered out May 31, 1862. 



•Deceased. 

fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



458 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



ROSTER OF COMPANY A 






NAME AND RANK 



Captains 
•John F. McCullough 



James M. Pipes 



'John A. Burns 

i st Lieutenants 
J. Jackson Purman 

•Mark G. Spragg 

2d Lieutenant 
David Taylor 
ist Sergeant 
•Charles T. Hedge 

Sergeants 
Daniel B. Wyehoff 

Nathaniel N. Purman 



•Henry Zimmers 

John F. Coen 

•Cornelius J. Burk 

•William A. Brown 

Corporals 
•J. S. Herrington 

•Alpheus Crawford 

Carey M. Fulton 
Thomas J. Kent 

•James B. Reinhart 

*Toseph Bane 
•Kramer Gabler 
Spencer Stephens 

•Leroy S. Greenlee 

•John W. Peden 

Musicians 
•James Woods 
•Morgan Dunn 
Privates 
Harrison Anderson 
Samuel Acklin 



Mustered Ik. 



Sept. 4. 1862. 



+ 
t 



t 
+ 
t 



f 
-r 



REMARKS. 



Feb. 27, 1864. 



Wounded July 2, 1863; at Gettysburg, Pa.; May 
28, 1864, commissioned Colonel 183d P. V.; 
killed at Totopotomy Creek May 31, 1864. 

Promoted from ist Sergeant to 2d Lieutenant 
Jan. 2, 1864; to Captain June 27, 1864; 
wounded with loss of arm at Reams Station, 
Va., Aug. 25, 1864; discharged on surgeon's 
certificate Feb. 17, 1865. Washington, D. C. 

Promoted from Sergeant to ist Sergeant Jan. 2, 
1864; to ist Lieutenant June 27, 1864; to Cap- 
tain March 4, 1865; died March 28, 1878. 

Wounded with loss of leg at Gettysburg, Pa., 

July 2, 1863; discharged on surgeon's certificate 

May 20, 1864. Washington, D. C. 
Promoted from Corporal to Sergeant March 1, 

1864; to 2d Lieutenant June 27, 1864; to ist 

Lieutenant March 4, 1865. 

Resigned July 31, 1865. Wind Ridge, Pa. 

Promoted from Corporal July 1, 1864; commis- 
sioned 2d Lieutenant Dec. 18, 1864. 

Promoted to Sergeant July 1, 1864; discharged by 
general orders July 5, 1865. Wilzetta, Okla. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863; trans- 
ferred to 105th Co., 2d Bat. V. R. C, Jan. 30, 
1865; discharged Sept. 4, 1865. Indianapolis, 
Ind. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; absent at 
muster out. 

Promoted to Corporal July 1, 1864; to Sergeant 
May 1, 1865. Brave, Pa. 

Promoted from Corporal Nov. 1, 1863; discharged 
on surgeon's certificate March 16, 1865. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Promoted to Corporal July 1, 1864; transferred 
to V. R. C, date unknown; discharged by gen- 
eral orders July 20, 1865; died since the war. 

Discharged by general orders June 6, 1865; died 
Feb. 13, 1910. 

Oakland, Cal. 

Promoted to Corporal July 1, 1864. Morovia, 
Okla. 

Promoted to Corporal July 1, 1864; died Oct. 30, 
1911. 

Promoted to Corporal July 1, 1864. 

Died since the war. 

Promoted to Corporal May i, 1865. Mt. Morris. 

Pa. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; buried in 

Evergreen Cemetery. 
Killed at Todd's Tavern, Va., May 15. 1864. 

Died since the war. 
Died since the war. 

Monesson, Pa. 

Transferred to V. R. C. ; discharged by general 
orders Feb. 24, 1864- Castile, Pa. 



•Deceased. 

i Mustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY A 



459 



NAME AND RANK 

Olive Armstrong 
•James Anderson 



*Tohn Acklin 

"Oliver H. P. Burson 

John Bennett 
•Peter Barney 


u 

u 

M 


t 

+ 


•Samuel Clutter 
John Cox, Jr. 
•Noah D. Clutter 


April 13, 1864. 


+ 
t 


•John Cox. Sr. 


Sept. 4. 1862. 





"George N. Doman 
"Benjamin Dunstan 
Michael Eddy 



•John W. Eddy 

George Freeland 

•John Fisher 
•David Frays 

•Charles A. Freeland 
Thornton Garber 

•George Gray 
•Simon Geary 

•John R. M. Green 
•Isaac P. Green 
•John Gray 
•John Henry 

Daniel S. Hopkins 

•Stephen C. Harris 

•David Hoge 

John C. Jones 
George Jones 

•Rezin S. Kent 

•Oliver Kener 
•Daniel King 

•James F. Kent 

•Daniel King 



•Samuel B. Locy 
John M. Lancaster 
John Long 

•John L. Lundy 



Mustered Ik. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 



Nov. 20, 1862. 
Sept. 4, 1 86a. 



Feb. 29, 1864. 

Sept. 4, 1862. 
« 

Feb. 27, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



March 22, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Transferred to Co. F, 18th Regt. V. R. C; di»- 
charged June 27, 1865. Waynesburg, Pa. 

Transferred to 114th Co., 2d Bat. V. R. C. 
March 13, 1864; discharged by general orders 
June 27, 1865; died since the war. 

billed at Petersburg June 17, 1864. 

Scenery Hill, Pa. 

""astile, Pa. 

transferred to 51st Co., 2d Bat., Jan. 1, 1863; 
discharged Sept. 4, 1865; died since the war. 

Hied since the war. 

Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. 

Transferred to Co. H, 53d Pa., May 30, 186s; 
discharged July 14, 1865; died 1892. 

Transferred to Co. K, 1st Regt. V. R. C, Sept. 
1, 1863; died since the war. 

Deserted Dec. 10, 1863. 

Died since the war. 

Killed May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania. 

Wounded at Todd's Tavern May 15, 1864; trans- 
ferred to V. R. C. Jan. 6, 1865. Waynesburg. 
Pa. 

Wounded and captured July 2, 1863, at Gettys- 
burg; died in prison at Richmond, Jan. 27, 1864. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan. 16, 1865. 
Cora. Mo. 

Transferred to Co. H, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 

Missing in action May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania, 
Va. 

Died Nov. 17, 1862, at Parkton, Md. 

Discharged by general orders July 10, 1865. 
Waynesburg, Pa. 

Died since the war. 

Wounded at Totopotomy Creek May 31, 1864; 
absent at muster out; died since the war. 

Killed at Cold Harbor, Va., June 6, 1864. 

Died at Falmouth, Va., Jan. 8, 1863. 

Killed at Cold Harbor, Va., June 6, 1864. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864; dis- 
charged by general orders June 8, 1865; died 
since the war. 

Transferred to Co. H, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 
Maringo, Ohio. 

Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Feb. is, 
1864; died since the war. 

Died at Washington. D. C, Jan. 10, 186s; buried 
in National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 

Audubon, Iowa. 

Transferred to Co. H, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 
Mannington, W. Va. 

Wounded at Bristoe Station Sept. 14, 1863; ab- 
sent at muster out; died since the war. 

Died since the war. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan. 17, 1865; 
died since the war. 

Discharged by special orders March 13, 1865; 
died since the war. 

Transferred to Co. H, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865; 
discharged by general orders June 3, 1865; died 
since the war. 

discharged May 20, 1865; died since the war. 

Trmond, Pa. 

Transferred to Co. D, 24th Regt. V. R. C; dis- 
charged by general orders June 27, 1865. Mt. 
Morris. Pa. 

~>ied at Parkton, Md.. Nov. 2, 1862. 



•Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



46o 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK 



•Benjamin F. Loar 

John Meighen 
John H. Miller 

•George W. Mariner 



Abraham Miller 

*Franklin R. Morris 

*Lindsay Morris 

•L. G. McCullough 

*Hiram McCullough 

William Ogden 
Abner Pipes 

•Joseph Petit 
•John A. Rush 
•John E. Roop 
•William Roop 

Lindsay Roop 

Henry Roop 

•William Roop 

•Alex. D. Robinson 

•Samuel Ridgway 
•Michael Roope 

•Samuel Roope 

•Nicholas Steel 

Ehud Steel 

Tames M. Swart 
Simon P. Scott 
Henry Scott 
•Jesse Sprowls 

Caleb Strosnider 

•Richard Serjeant 
*Kener L. Strosnider 

•Harvey Sanders 

•Job Smith, Jr. 

•John Simpson 

•Jesse Steward 
•Job Smith Sr. 
•John M. Spragff 
•Abner W. Taylor 
'Levi Taylor 



Mustered In. 



March 26, 1864. 
« 

April 7, 1864. 

Feb. 29, 1864. 

Sept. 4, 1862. 
March 26, 1864. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 



Feb. 27, 1864. 
Sept. 4. 1862. 



+ 



+ 
+ 

+ 



REMARKS. 



Died Aug. 1 at Philadelphia, Pa., of wound re- 
ceived at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 
Harvey s, Pa. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan. 20. 186?. 

Gebhart, Pa. 
Transferred to 114th Bat. V. R. C. March 13. 

1865; discharged by general orders July 18, 

1865; died since the war. 
Transferred to V. R. C. Dec. i, 1863. Cameron. 

W. Va. 
Missing in action at Chancellorsville, Va., May 

3, 1863: died since the war. 
Died at Washington, D. C, Dec. 22, 1864; buried 

in Arlington National Cemetery. 
Discharged by general orders June 6, 1865; died 

since the war. 
Missing in action at Reams Station, Va., Aug. 

25, 1864. 

I Absent, sick at muster out. Waynesburg, Pa. 
Discharged by general orders Tune 2%, 186s. 
Hill City, Kansas. 
Died July 7, 1864, at Alexandria, Va., Grave 2346. 
Died since the war. 
Died since the war. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan 16, 1863; 

died since the war. 
Transferred to Co. H, 53d Pa., June 30, 1865; 

wounded at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 
Transferred to Co. H, 53d Pa., June 30, 1865. 

Hoover's Run, Pa. 
Transferred to Co. H, 53d Pa., June 30, 1865; 

died since the war. 
Transferred to Co. H, 53d Pa., June 30, 1865; 

died since the war. 
Died at Parkton, Md., Nov. 25, 1862. 
Died July 2Q, 1864, of wound received at Cold 
Harbor, Va., June 6, 1864; buried in National 
Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 
Died July 29, 1864, of wound received at Peters- 
burg, Va., June 17, 1864; buried in National 
Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 
Discharged by general orders July is, 1865; died 

since the war. 
Wounded at Totopotomy, Va., May 31, 1864. 

Spraggo, Pa. 
Eno, Pa. 

Rutan, Pa., Greene County. 
Rutan, Pa., Greene County. 
Wounded May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania, Va. ; 

absent at muster out; died since the war. 
Discharged by general orders July 12, 1865. 

Spraggo, Pa. 
Discharged March 10, 1863; died since the war. 
Transferred to 2d Bat. V. R. C. Jan. g, 186s: 
discharged by general orders July 3, 1865; died 

since the war. 
Transferred to V. R. C. Sept 1, 1864; died since 

the war. 
Missing in action May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania, 

Va. . M 

Died Sept. 17, 1864, of wounds received at Deep 

Bottom, Va., May 14, 1864. 
Died April 9, 1865, in Philadelphia, Pa. 
Deserted July 2, 1863; died since the war. 
Killed at Mine Run, Va., Nov. 29, 1863. 
Died since the war. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; transferred 
to V. R. C. March 13, 186s; died April 19. 
1012. . 



•Deceased. 

fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 






ROSTER OF COMPANY A 



461 



NAME AND RANK 



'Norval L. Troy 



♦John R. H. Wilson 
"George W. Wilson 
'Benjamin F. Wallace 



•Brezan T. Walters 
'Harrison Woolum 

Francis A. Wallace 
•Simon S. West 
'Andrew J. Walters 

Morris Welsh 



Mustered In. 
Nov. 29, 1862. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



T 



Feb. 27, 1864- 
April 3, 1865. 



REMARKS. 



Died June 27, 1864, of wounds received at 

Totopotomy Creek, Va., May 31, 1864; buried 

at Alexandria, Va., Grave 2234. 
Died at Pittsburgh since the war. 
Died since the war. 
Transferred to 51st Co., 2d Bat. V. R. C, Jan. 

18, 1864; discharged Sept. 4, 1865, expiration 

of term; died since the war. 
Died since the war. 
Discharged by general orders May is, 1865; died 

since the war. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate Oct. 12, 1863. 

Waynesburg, Pa. 
Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., date 

unknown; died 191 1. 
Died of wound received May 12, 1864, at Spott- 

sylvania, Va. 
Never joined the Company. 



All of the foregoing were mustered into service Sept. 4. 1862, except fifteen recruits. All 
were mustered out May 31, 1865, except those who were transferred to other organizations or 
were in hospitals. 

'Deceased. 

fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



462 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



ROSTER OF COMPANY B 



NAME AND RANK. 



Captains 
Thomas B. Rodgers 



Jason T. Giebner 
Abram C. Grove 

Ranels C. Craig 



1 st Lieutenant 
John Satterfield 



2d Lieutenant 
George Tanner 

1 st Sergeants 
John Fox 



'James C. Nolan 
Charles W. Giebner 



Sergeants 
George Perrine 

James L. Griffin 

Samuel B. Rogers 

George W. Smail 

•John W. Johnson 
Corporals 
James I. Smith 
Alfred Ritner 



Benj. A. Paston 
'George Rose 
Daniel B. Mover 

John Roberts 

•George D. Moore 
Price Dilley 
Isaac Davis 
Henry Rafferty 

•Alexander Patton 



William Patton 
•Robert G. Davidaoa 



Mustered In. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 



+ 
-r 






REMARKS. 



Feb. 27, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



Promoted to Major Sept. 8, 1862; captured July 
2. 1863, at Gettysburg, Pa.; promoted to Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel to date, July 4, 1863; mustered 
out April, 1865. 

Promoted to 1st Lieutenant Sept. 8, 1862; pro- 
moted to Captain May 4, 1864; resigned Jan. 
18, 1865. Sharon, Mercer County, Pa. 

Promoted from 2d Lieutenant to 1st Lieutenant 
Sept. 25, 1862; to Captain June 28, 1864; 
wounded June 3, 1864, at Cold Harbor, Va. ; 
discharged by general orders Feb. 17, 1865. 
Ellwood City, Pa. 

Promoted from Sergeant to 1st Lieutenant June 
28, 1864; to Captain March 4, 1865. 

Promoted from Sergeant to 2d Lieutenant Nov. 
15, 1864; to 1st Lieutenant March 4, 1865; 
wounded in action. 

Promoted frr>m private Oct. 30, 1863; discharged 
Oct. 30, 1863. 

Commissioned 2d Lieutenant Dec. J 8, 1863, not 
mustered; promoted from Sergeant March 1, 
1865; wounded April 7, 1865, at Farmville; 
discharged by general orders May 31, 186s. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Dec. 20. 1863. 

Promoted from Corporal Oct. J 8, 1864; discharged 
on surgeon's certificate March 1, 1865. 

Promoted from Corporal Oct. 18, 1864. Hadley, 

Pa. 
Promoted to Corporal March 1, 1863; to Sergeant 

Oct. 18, 1864. Sandy Lake, Mercer County, Pa. 
Promoted from private Jan. 1, 1865; absent oa 

detached service at muster out. 
Promoted to Corporal Jan. 1, 1864; to Sergeant 

March 1, 186s. Glasco, Kansas. 
Died at Fort Schuyler, N. Y., Oct. 5. 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal Sept. 1, 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal Oct. 18. 1864; wounded at 

Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865; discharged by 

general orders May 20, 1865. 
Promoted to Corporal Oct. 18, 1864. 
Promoted to Corporal Oct. 18, 1864. 
Promoted to Corporal Oct. 18, 1864. Greenville. 

Pa. ., . 

Promoted to Corporal March 1, 1865. Fredonia, 

Pa. 

Promoted to Captain 23d Regular U. S. C. T. : 
killed at Petersburg Aug. 18, 1864. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan. I, i°°5- 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Dec. 7. 1863- 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 12, 1863. 

Captured at Cold Harbor, Va., June 2, 1864, and 
died in prison at Millen, Ga., date unknown: 
buried in National Cemetery, Sec. A, Grave 
309. 

Transferred to Co. I, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 

Died April 17. 186-;. at Falmouth. Va : 



•Deceased. 

fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY B 



463 



NAME AND RANK 



Robert B. Porter 
•Thomas G. Eagles 
•Samuel Holmes 



Musicians 
David B. Sinclair 
Charles Vath 
•Thomas Cozad 

Privates 
•D. W. Armstronr 
William Blair 
William Brannan 

Hugh Bradbery 

Wilson Bean 

•George M. Bennett 

Nathaniel Breast 
Joseph Brackle 

William P. Buchanan 

Samuel B. Bruner 

John I. Bailey 
•William Bowman 
•John Buckley 

•Aaron Bollinger 

John L. Cochran 

Melvin L. Cole 
•Wilson Calvert 
•Adam Clark 

Ransom IT. Custer 
Adam C. Dilley 

George E. Di'ley 
Horace A. Dewey 

James H. Dean 
Daniel Deross 
•Lewis F. Eebert 
Caleb N. Failes 



Mustered In. 



Sept. 4, 1863. 



•Tohn Fishcorn 
•Hartly Findley 



William Griggs 

Adam George 

George W. Gardner 
•George W. George 
•Charles Griggs 

John E. Hunter 



March 2g 1864. 

Dec. 30, 1863. 
Feb. 22, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



March 1, 1864. 

u 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



March 1, 1864. 
Feb. 15, 1864. 
Sept. 4. 1862. 



Feb. 1 1, 1864. 
April 9, 1864. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 



Feb. 18, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



+ 
-r 



REMARKS. 



Died May 15, 1864, at Fredericksburg, Va., of 
wound received at Spottsylvania May 12. 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal April 1, 1863; killed at 
Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Promoted to Corporal Jan. is, 1864; captured at 
Cold Harbor, Va., June 2, 1864; died in Ander- 
sonville Prison Sept. 5, 1864; Grave 7881. 



Discharged by general orders June 6, 1865. 
Captured at Bristoe Station, Va., Oct. 14, 1863; 
died Dec. 10, 1863, in prison at Richmond, Va. 

Died Sept. o, 1863, at Morrisville, Va. 

Wounded May 14, 1864, at Spottsylvania, Va.; 

absent at muster out. Tideoute, Pa. 
Wounded May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania, Va.; 

absent at muster out. Meadville, Pa. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 21, 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 11, 186s. 

Danville, Pa. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate May 5, 1864. 
Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17. 

Transferred to Co. F, oth Regt., V. R. C; dis- 
charged by general orders June 26, 1865. 

Transferred to Co. D, 14th V. R. C; discharged 
by general orders July 28, 1865. 

Transferred to Co. I, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 

Transferred to Co. I, s.^d Pa., May 30, 1805.. 

Killed at Gettysburg, Pa„ July 2, 1863; buried 
in National Cemetery, Sec. D, Grave 84. 

Captured July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pa. 
Oct. 26, 1863, in Philadelphia, Pa. 

Vbsent, sick at muster out. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan. 31. 

Transferred June 15. 1864, to V. R. C, 

Died April 11, 1864: buried in Allegheny Ceme- 
tery, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Not accounted for. . 

Wounded April 2, 1865, at Petersbm,? Va.; dis- 
charged by general orders June 28, 1865. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate June 3, '8°3- 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 11, 
1863. 

Discharged by general orders Sept. 1, 186;. 

Not accounted for. ... oc 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate April 20, 1864. 

Wounded June 16, 1864, at Petersburg, Va. ; dis- 
charged by general orders June 8, 1865. war- 
ren, Ohio. , . ,. 

Killed May 12, 1864. at Spottsylvania, Va. 

Died at Fort Schuyler, N. Y., Oct. 3, 
buried in Cypress Hill Cemetery, L. I., 
1986. 

Wounded April 6, 1865. at Sailor's Creek, Va. ; 
discharged by general orders June 3. i°°5- 



died 



1864. 



1864: 
Grave 



Transferred to Co. I, s.ld Pa., May 30, 1865. 
Died April 17, 1863, at Falmouth, Va. . 
Wounded May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania, Va„ 
absent at muster out. Volant. Mercer County. 

Pa. . 



•Deceased. 
tMustered 6ut 



fith Company May 31, 1865. 



464 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



Robert H. Howe 

Martfn Henderson 

Michael Haines 
'Oliver M. Hanna 
*Calvin Hummel 
•John A. Hunter 

Samuel Huff 

John Jones 

Michael Kilbulley 
•Allen Kirbey 



John G. Lytle 

Joseph Mook 
George Mears 
William H. Mumford 

•Cyrus Moreland 



•William Mears 
*H. C. Montgomery 

•James Mercer 
John O. Marsh 
Samuel McKinley 
James McCoy 



•Michael D. McGehan 

•James McKay 

Ephraim Osborn 

James O'Hara 
•James B. Porter 

•William M. Perrine 
•William J. Perry 

•Benjamin F. Powell 



•Thomas W. Petty 
Norman J. Pettis 
Tames M. Robb 
Robert G. Smith 
Hugh Shaw 



William P. Sutherland 
Charles Smoyer 

•Moses A. Spencer 
W. W. Shubondy 
John Seiplc 

Justice Smith 



Joseph Swager 



Mustered In. 



Jan. 26, 1864. 
March 23, 1864. 
Sept. 4. 1862. 

Feb. 26, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1 86c. 
Feb. 29, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 

Feb. 29, 1864. 

Sept. 4, 1862. 
ic 

March 31, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



Sept. 12, 1862. 
Sept. 13, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



March I, 1864. 

Sept. 4, 1862. 

Tan. 27, 1865. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 

Feb. 27, 1864. 



March 1, 1864. 
Sept. 27, 1862. 
Sept. 4. 1862. 



Sept. 12, 1862. 

Sept. 4, 1862. 
u 

II 

March 29, 1864. 



REMARKS. 



Wounded April 7, 1865, at Farmville, Va.; absent 

at muster out. 
Missing in action July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg. Pa. 
Transferred to Co. I, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 
Transferred to Co. I, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 
Died at Falmouth, Va., March 17, 1863. 
Died at Falmouth, Va., April 9, 1863. 
Not accounted for. 

Transferred to Co. I, 53d Pa., May 30, 186.5. 
Died May 14, 1864, at Fredericksburg, Va., of 

wound received May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania, 

Va. 
Transferred to Co. I, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 

Mercer, Pa. 
Discharged by general orders June 7, 1865. 
Transferred to 12th V. R. C. 
Transferred to Co. I, 5.3d Pa., May 30, 1865; 

discharged by general orders June 6, 186.5. 
Died in Andersonville Prison, date unknown; 

burial recorded Lawton National Cemetery. 

Millen, Sec. A, Grave 132. 
Died April 10, 1864, at Brandy Station, Va. 
Died May 13, 1864, of wound received at Spott- 
sylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 
Died at Falmouth, Va., Jan. 21, 1863. 
Not accounted for. 

Died at Washington, D. C, June 8, 1864. of 

wound received at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 

1864; buried in National Cemetery, Arlington, 

Va. 
Deserted, returned and restored; transferred to 

Co. I, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 
Died April 7, 1864, at Pittsburgh, Pa.; buried in 

Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate June 1, 1863. 

Stoneboro, Pa. 
Transferred to Co. I, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865. 
Transferred to Ind. Bat C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17. 

1863. 
Died Sept. 16, 1864. 
Died at Washington, D. C, Aug. 29, of wounds 

received in action Aug. 14, 1864; buried in 

National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 
Died Aug. 20, at Washington, D. C of wounds 

received Aug. 14, 1864; buried in National 

Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 
Captured; died in Andersonville Prison 1864. 
Not accounted for. 
Discharged by general orders June 3, 186.5. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., March 31. 1865; 
discharged by general orders June 21, 1865. 
Grove City, Pa. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865; dis- 
charged by general orders June 6, 1865. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Sept. 2, 1863. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 21, 1863. 

Transferred to Ind. Bat. C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17, 
1863. Clark's Mills, Mercer County, Pa. 

Transferred to Co. D, 9th Regt. V. R. C; dis- 
charged by general orders July 20, 186s. 
Cooperstown, Pa. 

Transferred to Co. I. c3d Pa.. May 30. 1865. 



•Deceased. 

t Mustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY B 



46S 



NAME AND RANK. 


Mustered In. 


REMARKS. 


•William Shaw 


Sept. 24, 1864. 


Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; died in 
Andersonville Prison July 7, 1864; Grave 2983. 






Thomas Swager 


m 


Not accounted for. 


John Shannon 


Sept. 1 ^ 1864. 


Not accounted for. 


Edward Scott 


il 


Not accounted for. 


Madison Thompson 


Sept. 4, 1862. -f- 


Fredonia, Mercer County, Pa. 


William H. Turner 


.4 


Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan 3, 186s. 


Charles Townsend 


it 


Transferred to V. R. C. June 18, 1864. 


•George Thompson 


u 


Died Jan. 25, 1863. 


•Crawford Thompson 


11 


Died April 12, 1864; buried in Allegheny Ceme- 
tery, Pittsburgh, Pa. 


•Henry C. Urey 




Died at Falmouth, Va., March 26, 1863. 


Jesse M. Vogan 


Feb. 25, 1864. 


Killed at Farmville, Va., April 17, 186c 


•George W. Vogan 


March 5, 1864. 


Died April 8, 1864, in Allegheny, Pa.; buried in 
Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa. 


•Samuel J. Weir 


Sept. 4, 1862. + 


Died March 18, 191 1. 


Anson A. Williams 


11 


Discharged on surgeon's certificate April 3, 1863. 


•Lewis Wright 


•1 


Killed at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 


Thomas M. White 


Sept. 12, 1862. 


Died at Alexandria, Va., Jan. 3, 1865; burial 
recorded Jan. 3, 1865; Grave 29S4. 


•Daniel Walford 


March 2, 1864. 


Died May 13, 1864, of wound received May 12, 
1865, at Spottsylvania, Va. 


Henry S. Writtner 


March 1, 1864. 


Not accounted for. 


•George Young 


Sept. 4, 1862. 


Killed at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 


Jacob R. Zahnser 


Feb. 17, 1864. 


Transferred to Co. I, 53d Pa., May 30, 1861;. 


Matthias Zahnser 




Transferred to Co. T. "53d Pa.. Mav 30, 186s. 



•Deceased. 
tMustered out with 



Company May 31, 1865. 






4 66 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



ROSTER OF COMPANY C 



NAME AND RANK. 



Captains 

•David Acheson 
Isaac N. Vance 

Alex. W. Acheson 



John M. Ray 



i st Lieutenant 
*\V. J. Cunningham 



2d Lieutenants 
"Charles L. Linton 



•Robert R. Reed 

i st Sergeants 
James Blake 

•J. D. Campbell 

Sergeants 
•James McFarland 

John S. Martin 



•Alex. T. Hartford 
•William Vankirk 
Eli H. Linton 

James P. Sayer 

John W. Wiley 

Corporals 
Richard Jones 

William J. Radcliff 
Hugh B. McNeil 
Philip A. Cooper 



Mustered In. 



Aug. 22, 1862 



-r 
+ 

-r 

T 



j. 

x 



REMARKS. 



Killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Promoted from 1st Lieutenant Sept. 23, 186.1: 
lost arm at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
on surgeon's certificate Jan. 12, 1864. 

Promoted from Sergeant to 1st Sergeant July 2, 
1863; to 1st Lieutenant Sept. 22, 1863; to Cap> 
tain Jan. 30, 1864; wounded in face May ia, 
1864, at Spottsylvania, Va. ; discharged on sur- 
geon's certificate Dec. o, 1864. Dennison, Tex. 

Promoted from Sergeant to 1st Sergeant Sept. 23, 
1864; to 2d Lieutenant Nov. 2, 1863; to 1st 
Lieutenant Jan. 3. 1864; to Adjutant Dec. 10, 
1864; to Captain Dec 13, 1864. 

Promoted from Sergeant to 1st Sergeant Nov. j 
1863; to 1st Lieutenant Dec. 13, 1863; wounded 
at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864; killed at Farm- 
ville, Va., April 7, 1865. 

Promoted to Captain Co. D May 1, 1863; 

wounded June 17, 1864, at Petersburg, Va. ; 

discharged by general orders May 17, 1865. 
Promoted from 1st Sergeant May 14, 1863; died 

at Georgetown, D. C, of fever, July 19, 1863. 

Promoted from Corporal to Sergeant Sept. 1, 
1863; to 1st Sergeant Dec. 13, 1864. 

Promoted from Sergeant May 1, 1863; killed at 
Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Promoted from private May 1, 1863; wounded at 

Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 
Promoted from Corporal Nov. 11, 1864; wounded 

at Po River May 10, 1864. Nelsonville, Athens 

County, Ohio. 
Promoted to Corporal Sept. 23, 1862; to Sergeant 

Nov. 10, 1864. 
Promoted to Corporal Sept. 23, 1863; to Sergeant 

Nov. 10, 1864; died Nov. 17. jqo6. 
Promoted from Corporal to Sergeant Sept. 22. 

1863; to Lieutenant 39th U. S. C. T. April 9. 

1864; to Captain Sept. 14, 1865; mustered out 

Dec. 24, 1865. 
Promoted from Corporal Nov. 2, 1863; received 

four wounds at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; 

discharged Oct. 25, 1864, on surgeon's certifi- 
cate. 
Commissioned 2d Lieutenant Dec. 18, 1864; not 

mustered; promoted to Quartermaster-Sergeant 

Dec. 23, 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal May 1, 1863; wounded at 
Wilderness, Va., May 5, 1864; discharged by 
general orders May 31, 1865. 

Promoted to Corporal July 14, 1864. Taylors- 
town, Washington County, Pa. 

Promoted to Corporal July 14, 1864; wounded at 
North Anna River May 23, 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal Sept. 1, 1864. Amity, 
Washington County. Pa. 



•Deceased. 

t Mustered out with Company May 31, 1S65. 






ROSTER OF COMPANY C 



467 



NAME AND RANK. 



Silas A. Sanders 

Aaron D. Gunn 

John Smalley 

•John Culley, Jr. 
Samuel Fergus 
David L. Rubble 



'William Horton 
*E. C. Brown 
•William Stockwell 

Musician 
•Walter D. Cleaver 

Privates 
•William Armstrong 

•William Amon 
Jerry K. Bishop 



John Blair 



•Samuel Baird 
•James Baird 



•John Billick 
Henry J. Boatman 



Julius S. Black 

Samuel Bonnell 
Lewis M. Cleaver 
•James B. Clemens 

•Ellis J. Cole 

•Isaac Cleaver, Jr. 

•Samuel Curry 

•Alex. S. Duncan 
John A. Dickey 



•John W. Duncan 
•Joseph M. Dye 

•Daniel W. Dowling 
•Isaac N. Dowling 
•Benton Devore 
•James Eckert 



Mustiikd Ik. 




i« 


+ 


<i 


+ 


<i 


+ 



Tan. 28, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Feb. 13, 1864. 

Feb. 8, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 186:?. 



REMARKS. 



Jan. 28. 1864. 



Promoted to Corporal Nov. 10, 1864; wounded at 
Totopotomy Creek May 31, 1864. 36 Hall Ave- 
nue, Washington, Pa. 

Promoted to Corporal Dec. 13, 1864; wounded in 
the Wilderness, Va., May 5, 1864. Laurester, 
N. Y. 

Promoted to Corporal Dec. 13, 1864; wounded at 
Totopotomy Creek May 31, 1864; died June 9, 
1911. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, date «n- 
known; died at home June 18, 1863. 

Promoted to 2d Lieutenant 27th U. S. C. T. 
Nov. 16, 1864; mustered out Sept. 21, 186s. 

Captured at Chancellorsville. Va., May 3, 1863; 
wounded at Totopotomy Creek, Va., May 31, 
1864; discharged by general orders May is. 
1865. 

Killed at Gettysburg, Pa., Tuly 2, 1863. 

KUled at Wilderness, Va., May 5, 1864. 

Killed at Wilderness, Va., May 5. 1864. 



Captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; died 

in Richmond, Va., Dec. 1, 1863. 
Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 
Wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863; 

discharged on surgeon's certificate Oct. 3, 

1863. Tiffin, Iowa. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate March n, 1864. 
Pattonsburg, Mo. 

Transferred to V. R. C. March 16, 1864. 

Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 
17. 1863. 

Transferred to V. R. C. Jan is, 1864. 

Promoted to Sergeant-Major Sept. 12, 1862; cap- 
tured at Gettysburg. Pa., July 2, 1863; returned 
to regiment Oct., 1863. Chicago, 111. 

Transferred to Co. D, 53d Pa. Vols., May 30. 
1865; wounded at Todd s Tavern, Va., May 8, 

1864. Hilliard, Ohio. 

Wounded at Po River, Va., May 10, 1864; trans- 
ferred to Co. D, 53d Pa. Vols., May 31, 186s. 

Wounded at Totopotomy Creek, Va.. May 31. 
1864. Orlando, Fla. 

Captured June 8, 1863, at Cold Harbor, Va.; dis- 
charged by general orders July 17. 1865; d;ed 
Oct. 21, 1010. 

Died at Philadelphia, Pa., Aug 3, of wounds 
received at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Died June 20, 1864; wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., 
July 2, 1863. . 

Captured at Totopotomy Creek, Va. ; died in 

Andersonville Prison Sept. a, 1864; Grave 7617- 

Teamster. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; 
wounded at Deep Bottom, Va., Aug. 16, 1864; 
discharged by general orders May is, 186s. 
Claysville, Pa. 

Transferred to V. R. C. Nov. 13. 1864. 

Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17, 

Died in Washington County, Pa.. Nov. 3. 1863. 
Killed at North Anna River, Va., May 23, 1864. 
Killed at North Anna River, Va., May 23, 1864. 
Killed at Spotsylvania. Va.. May 12, 1864. 



•Deceased. 

TMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



468 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



Nehemiah Gilbert 



•Mason Hart 
•Thomas Hardesty 

•Lewis Henry 

William Howard 
Clark Irey 



'John J. Jordan 

•Thomas Jones 

David Jones 
•James S. Kelley 
'Daniel L. Keeney 



•Thomas Lucas 
•Thomas VV. Long 

•Robert Lindsay 



•John Moore 
Samuel Mills 
James L. Martin 

Tillinghast Moury 



Newton Mumbower 
•Anthony Mull 
•Richard Miller 



James E. McCullough 
Thomas McCune 



•David McCoy 
Frank B. McNear 

•Daniel McClain 
•John McCann 

George Norris 

•Alvin Newman 

John Patterson 
Andrew Plants 
Esau Powell 

William H. Pollock 

•William Pollock 
•William B. Post 

•Albertus Patterson 
•Jackson Prawl 
•Robert Patterson 



Mustered In. 



Aug. 22, 1862. 



fan. 28, 1864. 

!« 

\ug. 22, l862. 



X 

i 



41 
It 




It 


+ 


'eb. 27, 1863. 


f 


\ug. 22. 1862. 





REMARKS. 



vVounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
on surgeon's certificate Feb. 20, 1864. Wash- 
ington, Pa. 

Transferred Dec. 17, 1863, to Ind. Battery C. 
Pa. Art. 

Oied at Harrisburg. Pa., of wounds received at 
Petersburg, Va., June 10, 1864. 

Deserted Sept. 5, 1862. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; 
wounded at Wilderness, Va., May 5, 1864; 
transferred to 1st Co., 2d Battalion V. R. C; 
discharged by general orders July 19, 1865- 
70 State Street, Chicago, 111. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 
transferred to U. S. Navy, date unknown. 

Killed at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863. 

Deserted July 1, 1863. 

Killed at Gettysburg. Pa,, July 2, 1863. 

Died Aug. 20, 1S63, at Philadelphia, Pa., of 
wounds received at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 
1863. 

Killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Died Aug. 20, 1864, of wound received at Spott- 
sylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Captured at Gettysburg, Pa.. July 2, 1863; died 
in Richmond, Va., prison Nov. 12, 1863; burial 
recorded Nov. 22, 1863. 

Died July 6, 1011. 

Kammerer, Washington County, Pa. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 18, 
1863. Logan, Hocking County, Ohio. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; trans- 
ferred to V. R. C. Feb. is, 1864. Jonesville, 
Iowa. 

Transferred to Co. D, 53d Pa., May 31, 1865. 

Killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Died of wounds received July 2, 1863, at Gettys- 
burg, Pa.; buried in National Cemetery, Sec B, 
Grave 47. 

Absent, sick at muster out. Florence, Pa. 

Wounded July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pa.; cap- 
tured at Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865; dis- 
charged by general orders Jan. 3, 1865. 

VVounded at Gettysburg july 2, 186-?; transferred 

to V. R. C. Jan. 15, 1864. Steelton, Pa. 
Transferred to V. R. C, Aug. 1, 1865. 
Died at Wheeling, W. Va., May 30, 1864. of 

wounds received at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 
Wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863. Deer 

Lick, Pa. 
Died at Wheeling, W. Va., Aug. 13, 1863, of 

wound received at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 
Dallas West, Va. 
Florence. Pa. 
Captured at Cold Harbor, Va., June 6, 1864- 

Streator, 111. 
Wounded Aug 16, 1864, at Deep Botton, Va. 

Uniontown, Pa. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania Mav 12, 1864; trans- 
ferred to Co. D, 53d Pa., May 31, 1865. 
Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 
Killed May 23', 1864, at North Anna River. 
Deserted Tune. 1863. 



•Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May 3'. 1865. 



FOSTER OF COMPANY C 



469 



NAME AND RANK. 



Charles Quail 



•Charles Rentz 
* Samuel Rittick 
•Henry W. Richard 
'Austin M. Richard 



•William L. Rubble 

•William Ravenscroft 

•Gales Rose 

John Stockwell 
•Presley H. Shipley 

James S. Stockwell 

•William H. Simpson 

•Jonathan Tucker 
•Simeon Vankirk 
•Colin Waltz 



Hugh Weedham 
•Samuel Wise 

John D. Wiseheart 



'James Wise 
"Isaac Wall 
Jefferson Younkin 



Mustered Ik. 



Feb. 27, 1864. 
Jan. 28, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Feb. 16, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Feb. 26, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



-:- 

-r 



REMARKS. 



Wounded July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pa.; cap- 
tured June 6, 1864, at Cold Harbor, Va. ; dis- 
charged bv general orders June 14, 1865. West 
Brownsville, Pa. 

Died since the war. 

Hied since the war. 

Hied since the war. 

Wounded May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania, Va. ; 
transferred to Co. A, oth V. R. C, July 10, 
1865; discharged by general orders June 24, 
1865. 

Transferred to Co. D, 53d Pa. Vols., May 30. 
1863. 

Wounded at Totopotomy Creek May 18, 1864; 
transferred to Co. D, 53d Pa., May 30, 1864- 

Died May 29, 1864, of wound received May 12, 
1864, at Spottsylvania, Va. 

McDonald, Allegheny County, Pa. 

Wounded July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pa.; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate, date un- 
known. 

Wounded July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pa.; trans- 
ferred to V. T. C. Sept. 30, 1863. Columbus, 
Ohio. 

Transferred to Co. D, 53d Pa., May 30, 1865; 

Died since the war. 
died since the war. 

Killed July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pa. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 2, 1863, 
and at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; discharged 
on surgeon's certificate Dec. 19 1863. 

Transferred to ssd Regt., P. V., May 30, 1865. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; trans- 
ferred to V. R. C. Oct. 19, 1864- 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; trans- 
ferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17. 

Killed at Totopotomy Creek, Va., May 31, 1864- 
Killed at Chancellorsville May 3. 1863. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; transferred 

to 96th Co., V. R. C; discharged Aug. 2, 186s. 

expiration of term. Harveys, Green County. 



Pa. 



•Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



470 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



ROSTER OF COMPANY D 



NAME AND RANK. 



Captains 
•Silas Parker 

•Charles L. Linton 



ist Lieutenants 
•James Mannon 
James i>. Vandyke 



J. Fulton Bell 



2d Lieutenant 
•Matthias Minton 

i st Sergeant 
•James M. Hughes 



Sergeants 
"Henry C. Swart 

•Moses McCollum 



•Cephas D. Sharo 
'Leicester Bebout 
•Isaac Sharp 
John Closser 
•Charles Guttery 

•John L. Hathaway 



Corporals 
•John A. Black 

•William C. Ramsey 

•L. W. Day 
•Beden Bebout 

•James A. Bebout 
•Franklin F. lams 

•Jacob McAfee 

•Samuel B. Evans 



Mustered In. 



Aug. 22. l862. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



t 
t 



REMARKS. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 



Discharged April 16, 1863; died at Amity, Pa., 
June 23, 1863. 

Promoted from 2d Lieutenant, Co. C, May t, 
1863; wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 17, 
1864; discharged on surgeon's certificate. May 
17, 1865; died at Junction City, Kansas. 

Discharged Jan. 16, 1863; died in Nebraska, 1901. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville; promoted from O. S. 
to 2d Lieutenant Nov. 2, 1863; then to ist 
Lieutenant Nov. 6, i86">- discharged on sur- 
geon's certificate, May 16, 1864. 

Promoted from Corporal to Sergeant June 1, 1863; 
to ist Sergeant Nov. 1, 1863; to ist Lieutenant 
July 20, 1864. Address, Washington, Pa. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, August 19, 
1863; died at Prosperity, Pa. 

Promoted from Corooral to Sergeant Nov. 1, 1863; 
to ist Sergeant July 20, 1864; wounded at Get- 
tysburg July 2, 1868; died at Washington, Pa., 
1906. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864; 
died at Washington, Pa., 1899. 

Wounded at Chancellersville May 3, 1863; died 
of wounds received May 17, 1863, at Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

Died Aug. 2d of wounds received at Gettysburg 
July 2, 1863. 

Died at Pittsburgh, Pa., Sept. ist, of wounds 
received at Totopotomy May 31, 1864. 

Promoted from Corporal Nov. 1, 1863; died at 
Washington, Pa., 1907. 

Promoted to Corporal Nov. i, 1863: to Sergeant 
Sept. 1, 1864. Address, Lone Pine, Pa. 

Promoted to Corporal Nov. 1, 1863; to Sergeant 
September 1, 1864; wounded at Spottsylvania; 
died in Kansas, 1911. 

Promoted to Corporal November 1, 1863; to Ser- 
geant Sept. 1, 1864; wounded at Cold Harbor, 
Va. June 2, 1864; absent at muster out; died 
in Kansas, 1907. 

Taken prisoner at Gettysburg; died at Prosperity, 

Pa., 1880. 
Wounded at Gettysburg; transferred to Veteran 

Reserve Corps; died near Washington, Pa., 1903. 
Died at Washington, Pa., 191 1. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; died July 

10, 1863. 
billed at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. 
Promoted to Corporal Sept. 1, 1864; died at 

Amity, Pa., 1910. 
Promoted to Corporal November 1, 1863; wounded 

at Spottsylvania; died at Amity, Pa., 1896. 
Promoted to Corporal Jan. 1, 1864; wounded at 

Tolopotomy; died at Washington, D. C. June 

it. 1864. 



•Deceased. fMuitered out with Company May 31. 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY D 



47i 



NAME AND RANK. 



Zachariah Baker 

Nathan B. Evans 
"George S. Moore 
•John Kelly 

James Miles 

* Leroy Woods Day 

Musicians 
Alpheus Cunningham 

•Hamilton Parker 
•James McCleary 

Privates 
Robert Birch 

•Ira Baldwin 
•William Bebout 
Sample S. Bell 
Hazlett M. Bell 

•Enoch Baker 

•Abner L. Birch 

•James Birch 

•Miller Blatchly 

•John L. Brannon 
•Charles Cunningham 

•Levi Curry 
•Andrew Curry 

•Silas M. Crispin 

•Milton Clutter 

•John W. Cooper 
Wilson Dot" 

•Thomas Doty 
•Lewis Dille 



Mustered In. 



Aug. 22, l862. 



Feb. 23, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Promoted to Corporal Sept. 1, 1864; wounded at 
Spottsylvania; absent at muster out. Address, 
Amity, Pa. 

Taken prisoner at Gettysburg; promoted to Cor- 
poral Sept. 1, 1864. Address, Ten Mile. Pa. 

Promoted to Corporal Nov. 1, 1863; transferred 
to Signal Corps; died in New Lisbon, O. 

Promoted to Corporal Jan. 1, 1865; died at Cum- 
berland, Md., 191 1. 

Promoted to Corporal Jan. 1, 1865. Address, 
Waverly, O. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, July 4, 1864. 
died Aug. 26, 1911. 

Discharged by special order July 20, 1865. Ad- 
dress, Rice's Landing, Pa. 

Killed in Missouri 1867, accidentally. 

Transferred to Co. H, 53d; Reg. P. V., May 30, 
1865. Date of death not known. j 

Discharged Sept. 19 for wounds received at 
Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. Address, Salineville, 
Ohio. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, Oct. 18, 1863; 
died in Missouri, 1897. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, May 23, 1863; 
died in 1893. 

Discharged for disability on surgeon's certificate; 
Date unknown. Address, Washington, Pa. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863; 
transferred to 2d Battalion V. R. C. March 16, 
1864; discharged by general orders, June 28, 
1865. Address, Finleyville, Pa. 

Taken prisoner at Bowling Green, Va., June 2, 
1864; died at Blue Rapids, Kas., April 27, 1912. 

Died in Pittsburg, Pa., Oct. 4, of wounds re- 
ceived at Wilderness, Va., May 5, 1864. 

Died May 12 of wounds received at Wilderness, 
Va., May 5, 1864. 

Died at Beverly, N. J., Oct. 4, 1864; burial re- 
corded Oct. 9, 1864. 

Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863; discharged 
on surgeon's certificate, Feb. 22, 1864; died at 
Ten Mile, Pa., 1896. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, Feb. 8, 1863; 
died in Texas, 1903. 

W •'.aded and taken prisoner at Chancellorsville. 
Va., May 1, 1863; died in Andersonville — date 
unknown — buried in Lawton National Cemetery, 
Millan, Ga. — Sec. A, grave 85. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; trans- 
ferred to V. R. Corps, Jan. 10, 1865; died at 
Lone Pine, Pa., 1804. 

Died at Washington, D. C, March 20, 1864; bur- 
ial recorded, Feb. 20, 1864; buried in Harmony 
Burial Grounds, D. C. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863; died ai 
Prosperity, Pa., Nov. 7, 1864. 

Wounded at Gettysburg. Pa., July 2, 1863; dis- 
charged by general orders, May 26, 1865. Ad- 
dress, Ten Mile, Pa. 

Killed at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 
12, 1864. 

Died July 19 of wounds received at Gettysburg. 
Pa.. July 2, 1863; buried National Cemetery; 
Sec. B, grave £4. 



'Deceased. fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



472 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



•Joseph E. Evans 
*Abner Enox 
Enoch French 

"Jacob Frazee 

Thomas Glennon 



James L. Garvin 
James Hathaway 



•James Hilton 
*Jacob Hatfield 
•Robert Hatfield 

r 

•Jonathan W. Hughes 

•James A. Jackson 

•Samuel Johnson 

Charles it. Kaine 
•George Keeny 

Amos Knestrick 
•Cornelius D. B. Kirk 

•Cyrus Lindley 
•Milton Lindley 
•Isaac LeacocK 

•John \V. Lewis 

William Lloyd 

Milton Lindley 
•Joseph Meeks 

James Love 
'Enoch G. Martin 

•Lyman S. Miller 

•James M. Miller 

•James Montgomery 

•John B. McDonald 
•Winder McKinney 

•Albert G. Parker 

•Tudson W. Paden 
•Philo Paul 

•Peter Phillips 

"Harvey Pope 
•John Quinn 



Mustered In. 



REMARKS. 



Sept. 4, i S62. 



Feb. 29, j 864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Dec. 29, 1863. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 
Aug. 22. 1S62 



Feb. 27, 1864. 
Feb. 26, 1864. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 

Aug. 22. 1862. 



Dec. 29, 1863. 



Died in the West; date not known. 

Died at Lone Pine, Pa., 1905. 

Discharged Sept. 14, 1863. Address, Washington, 

Pa. 
Transferred to Brown's Rhode Island Battery, 

Dec. 17, 1863; died at Lone Pine, Pa., 1896. 
vVounded at Bristow Station; transferred to 
Brown's Rhode Island Battery, Dec. 17, 1863. 
^ Address, Waynesburg, Pa. 
Not accounted for. 
VVounded at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864; 
discharged by general orders May 30, 1865. 
Address, Rice's Landing, Pa. 
Discharged by surgeon's certificate, March 31, 

1863: died in Illinois, 1903. 
Died at Washington, D. C, Dec. 31. 1864; buried 

in National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 
Recruit; transferred to Co. H, 9th Reg. V. R. C, 
Jan. 10, 1865; discharged by general orders 
July 21, 1865; date of death not known. 
Wounded at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863; died at 

Amity Nov. 5, 1864. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, Dec. 31, 1863; 

died at Amity, fa., March, 1909. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, Feb. 8, 1863; 

died at Waynesburg, Pa. 
\ddress not known. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, March 9, 

1863; died 1910. 
Address, Vanceville, Pa. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, March 23. 

1863; date of death not known. 
Died at Prosperity, 1901. 
Deserted Nov. 20, 1862. 

Wounded with loss of leg at Gettysburg, July 2, 
1863; discharged on surgeon's certificate, Oct. 
25, 1864; died at Ten Mile, 1910. 
Died at Pittsburgh, Pa., July 13. 1864, of wounds 

received at Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, Sept. 3, 1863; 

living in Missouri. 
Deserted, Nov. 20, 1862. 
Taken prisoner at Bristow Station, Va., Oct. 14, 

1863; died at Annapolis, Md., May 13, 1865. 
Not accounted for. 
Recruit: wounded at Petersburg Jan. 4, iS6s; 

discharged by general orders, June 2, 1865- 
Recruit; transferred to Co. H, 53d Reg., P. V.; 

date unknown; died in Nebraska. 
Died at Washington, D. C, May 20, of wounds 
received at Spottsylvania. May 12, 1864; buried 
in National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 
Died July 15 of wounds received at Spottsylvania, 

Mav 12, 1864. 
Died in Illinois, 1807. 
Transferred to Veteran Reserved Corps Nor. 

1, 1862: died at Lone Pine, Pa.. 1808. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, May 31, 1863; 

died in Wasninsrton. Pa., 1902. 
Killed at Spottsylvania. 
Killed at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 

12, 1864. 
Died May 10th 1864 of wounds received at Po 

River, Va. 
Died at Windmill Point, Va., Feb. 2, 1863, 
Recruit; transferred to Co. H, 53d Reg. P. V., 
May 30, 186^; date of death not known. 



•Deceased. fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865 



ROSTER OF COMPANY D 



473 



NAME AND RANK. 


Mustered Ik. 


George Redd 
*William Rutan 


Sept. 4, 1862. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 


*John Sibert 

Tames Sibert 
*Joseph Sherrick 


it JU 

1 
T 


Joseph Swihart 
*Harvey Swart 
*A. J. Swart 


-!--;• 


"John Swart 


Feb. 27, 1863. 


"John W. Sanders 


Aug. 22, 1862. 


*Simon Sanders 
'Emmer Smalley 
"Amos Swart 


Sept. 4, 1862. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 


'George \V. Teegarden 


f 


'William Teegarden 


it 


'Andrew J. Vankirk 


n 


William Watson 


Sept. 4, 1862. 


*Henry Watson 


Aug. 22, 1862. 


'Christopher C. Welch 


a 


'William Williams 
John A. Wright 


Sept. 4, 1862. 

Aug. 22, 1862. t 



*Jacob Yoders 



REMARKS. 



Living in Kansas. 

Died at Washington, D. C, June 12, 1864; buried 
in National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 

Died at Amity, 1008; wounded at Cold Harbor. 

Address, Amity, Pa. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863 and 
at Wilderness, Va May, 1864; died in Vir- 
ginia, 1005. 

Address, Waynesburg, Pa. 

Died at Amity, 1906. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863: dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate, Sept. 19, 1864: 
died at Amity, igoo. 

Recruit; transferred to Co. H. 53d Reg. P. V., 
May 30, 1865; discharged by general orders 
June 17, 1865; died in Iowa. 

Died at Potomac Creek, Va., May 16, of wounds 
received at Chancellorsville, May 3. 1863. 

Killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Killed at Wilderness, Va., May 5. 1864. 

Killed at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 
12, 1864. 

Wounded at Five Forks, Va., April, 1865; died 
in Kansas, 1908. 

Died at Washington, D. C, of wounds received 
at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 12, 

1864. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864: dis- 
charged April 15, 1865. on surgeon's certificate; 
died in Washington, Pa., 191 1. 

Absent; sick at muster out. Address, Pittsburgh, 
Pa. 

Taken prisoner at Gettysburg. July 2, 1863; dis- 
charged bv general orders May 26, 1865; died 
at Lone Pine, Pa., 1898. 

Discharged by special order April 1, 1865; died 
in Washington, Pa., 1909. 

Died at Alexandria, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863. Ad- 
dress, Indianapolis, Ind. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., 
May 12, 1864; transferred to Veteran Reserved 
Corps, Jan. 10, 1865; died 1896. 



*Deceased. fMustered out with Company May 31, 1S65. 

The aggregate loss of Company D during the war was: 

Twenty-two killed, 36 wounded, 6 taken prisoners and 11 died of diseases. Eleven recruits 
joined the Company during the fall and winter of 1863-64. 

At the muster-out of the Regiment, at the close of the war, there were present 17 of 
Company D. 



474 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

ROSTER OF COMPANY E 



NAME AND RANK. 



Captains 
Aaron O. Gregg 
Irvin F. Sansom 



•Jesse J. Power 



i st Lieutenants 
Thomas A. Stone 
James A. Russell 

•William D. Lauk 



2d Lieutenants 
William A. McMilhn 
Francis R. Storer 

i st Sergeants 
John Barkley 

Samuel Potter 



Sergeants 
Isaiah Collins 

William P. McMasters 

George B. Kistler 

James Shaw 
A. G. Beeson 

R. G. S. Smith 

*R. F. O'Rryon 
Corporals 
Abraham Moore 
Samuel Prichard 
Simon Iuks 

•George Lafferty 

Thomas Kelley 
Plumer F. Hall 
Harvey Rose 

•James Ranken 

•Robert Russell 

•Robert Herron 

Musician 
Charles F. King 



Mustered In. 



Aug. 22. 1862. 



Sept. 4, 1862. 



Aug. 23, 1862. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



Aug. 23, 1862. 
Sept. 4, 1862. 



Aug. 22, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Ort. 20. t?6;?. 






+ 



Discharged on surgeon's certificate June 5, 1863. 
Promoted from 2d to 1st Lieutenant March x, 

1863; to Captain Sept. 1, 1863; discharged Aug. 

17, 1864. 
Promoted from Corporal to Sergeant Nov. 10, 

1863; to Captain Feb. 10, 1865; wounded at 

Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 12, 1864; 

died November 15, 1910. 

1 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 7, 1863. 
Promoted from Sergeant Nov. 6, 1863; discharged 

Jan. 13, 1865. Braddock, Pa. 
Promoted from 1st Sergeant Feb. 10, 1865; killed 

at Sailor's Creek, Va., April 6, 1865: buried in 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery, Petersburg; 

Grave 14. 

Promoted from 1st Sergeant April 18, 1865. 
Promoted from 1st Sergeant March 30. 1863; dis- 
charged by general orders Dec. 14, 1863. 

Promoted from Corporal to Sergeant April 10, 
1863; to 1st Sergeant Feb. 10, 1865. 

Promoted from Corporal April 10, 1863; wounded 
at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 12, 
1864; discharged on surgeon's certificate Nov. 
25, 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal Jan. 24, 1864; to Sergeant 
Feb. 10, 1865. Ohiopyle, Pa. 

Promoted to Corporal Dec. 22, 1864; to Sergeant 
Feb. 10, 1865. Munhall, Pa. 

Promoted from private Feb. 10, 1865; wounded at 
Po River Feb. 10, 1864. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 22, 1863- 

Promoted from Corporal Feb. 23, 1863; wounded 
at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; transferred to V. R. 
C. Jan. 1, 1865. Uniontown, Pa. 

Promoted to Quartermaster-Sergeant, date un- 
known. 

Killed at Totopotomy Creek, Va., May 31, 1864- 



Captured; died at Charleston, S. C, Oct. 23, 1864 
Promoted to Corporal April 10, 1863; absent, sick 

at muster out. 
Promoted to Corporal Nov. 10, 1863; wounded at 

Petersburg, Va., July 4, 1864; died, date un- 
known. 
Promoted to Corporal Aug. 1, 1864. 
Promoted to Corporal Dec. 22, 1864. Ohiopyle, Pa. 
Promoted to Corporal April 10, 1863; discharged 

on surgeon's certificate Sept. 22, 1863. 
Died at Washington, D. C, Jan. 10, 1863; buried 

in Military Asvlum Cemetery. 
Promoted to Corporal Oct. o, 1863; killed at 

Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 12, 1864. 
Promoted to Corporal April 10, 1863; killed at 

Totopotomy, Va., May 31, 1864. 






llTniontown. Pa. 



•Deceased. 

f Mustered out with Company May 31. 1S65. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY E 



475 



NAME AND RANK. 



Privates 
Jackson Ballsinger 

Harvey Ballsinger 

Benjamin Behannah 
George Behannah 
Alex. Boniface 



William Ballsinger 

•George Ballsinger 

•Franklin Barringer 

*A. S. Black 
Eli Cady 



'Lindsey Cady 
Samuel Cashdollar 



James Chubbic 

James Colvin 

Andrew N. Crawford 
•William E. Chester 
•Samuel W. Cady 
•James Coskey 

Thomas Cole 

H. C. Diffenderffer 

Stephen Daniels 

Francis M. Daniels 
John Fell 
Zenophon Gamble 
Charles Guter 



John Gawley 
John S. Hindman 



Josiah Holdman 
Daniel Handlin 
•Francis M. Hansel 

•William Hirsh 

•James Hurley 

•Jeremiah Huttenhour 
Benjamin Ingles 
John Johnson 
Andrew Johnson 



Jesse L. Tones 
William B. Jobb 

Levi Keenan 

Christopher Lickle 
•C. A. Lauk 



Mustered Ik. 



Aug. 22, 1862. 



f 



Oct. 29, 1862. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Wounded at Gettysburg July 3 , 1863; absent at 
muster out. Turkey River, Iowa. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; absent at 
muster out. Osterdock, Iowa. 

Hazard, Pa. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 22, 1863. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., 1864; discharged on 
surgeon's certificate Feb. 29, 1864. Homestead, 
Pa. 

Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps Sept. 1, 1863. 
Smithfield, Pa. 

\ccidentally killed at White Hall, Md, Sept. 27, 
1862. 

Died July 15, 1864, of wounds received in action; 
buried in National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 

Died at Parkton, Md., Nov. 12, 1862. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864; trans- 
ferred to V. R. C. ; discharged by general orders 
Aug. 4, 1865. 

Discharged by general orders July 14, 1864. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; at Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 8. 1864; absent at muster out. 
Stewarts Station, Pa. 

Canonsburg, Pa. 

Absent on detached service at muster out. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 7, 1863. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate May 15, 1865. 

Died July 1, 1864. 

Died, date unknown. 

Deserted July 1, 1863. 

^09 Mayflower Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Transferred to 2d Bat. V. R. C. Sept. 1, 1863; 
discharged by general orders June 29, 1865. 

Captured at Gettysburg July 2; killed at Cold 
Harbor, Va., June 5, 1864. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864. Belle- 
vernon. Pa. 

Discharged by general orders June 12, 1865. Em- 
porium, Kansas. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 
12, 1864; absent at muster out. Irwin Station, 
Pa. 

Deserted Aug. 25, 1863. 

Wounded with loss of arm at Petersburg, Va., 
June 18, 1864; discharged on surgeon's certifi- 
cate after 20th, 1865. Streator, 111. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan. 9, 1863. 

Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps June 9, 1865. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; buried in Na- 
tional Cemetery, Sec. E, Grave 24. 

Killed at Cold Harbor, Va., June 3, 1864. 

Died at Falmouth, Va., March 24, 1863. 

Killed at Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864. 



Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 

on surgeon's certificate April 16, 1865. Nor- 

malville, Pa. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate April 10, 1863. 
Transferred to Co. A, 3d Regt. V. R. C. Jan. 10, 

1863; discharged by general orders July 6, 186=;. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 

on surgeon's certificate Jan. 23, 1864. 
Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps Jan. 10, 1865. 
Died at Falmouth, Va., March 24, 1863. 



•Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



476 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND EORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



•Bart. Lancaster 

* James Lytic 
Calvin B. Malaby 
And. McWilliams 

Henry McKnight 

* George McMillen 
William Pyle 

* George W. Pritcharl 
John W. Pearce 



Jesse Pearce 
•Hugh Patterson 

Harry Pierce 
Robert G. Roberts 



Mustered In. 



Oct. 29, 1S62. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Alden Rose 
•Robert Rudge 



William Reynolds 

William R. Roberts 

Francis Russell 
•Sparks E. Roberts 
•Jesse Stricklin 

A. B. Smiley 

•William H. Sickles 
William Turner 

•John W. Thorp 
•Robert Wall 
William F. White 

Joseph Wiltser 
George Windhurst 
Lowrie Williams 
•Solomon Williams 

•Toseph T. Woodward 



Oct. 29, 1862. 
Aug. .'j, 1862 



* 



REMARKS. 



Died at Washington, D. C., Dec. 22, 1862. 

Died at Andersonville, Ga., date unknown. 

Deserted June 30, 1863. 

Missing in action at Spottsylvania Court House, 
Va., May 12, 1864. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate July is, 1863. 
Dawson, Pa. 

Died at Pittsburgh, Pa., Nov. 28, 1864; buried in 
Allegheny Cemetery. 

Discharged by general orders June 27, 1865. Po- 
mona, Kansas. 

Discharged by general orders July 7, 1864; died 
April 1, 1911. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863; 
discharged on surgeon's certificate, date un- 
known. 

Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps Aug. 1, 1863. 

Died at Washington, D. C, Aug. 10, 1863; buried 
in Military Asylum Cemetery. 

Died at Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 1, 1864. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 
2, 1864; discharged by general orders June 15, 
1865. Braddock, Pa. 

Marietta, Ohio. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 
12, 1864; transferred to Co. H, 12th Regt., 
V. R. C. ; discharged by general orders June 29, 
1865. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan. 19, 1863. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate May 8, 1863. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 17, 1863. 

!)ied at Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 24, 1864. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan. 19, 1863. 
Dunbar, Pa. 

Died at Point Lookout, Md., Oct. 14, 1864. 

vVounded at Cold Harbor, Va., June 3, 1864; dis- 
charged by general orders Tune 17, 1865. 

Died at Washington, D. C, Tuly 31, 1863. 

Wounded at South Side R. R. V. 

VVounded at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 
12, 1864; absent at muster out. 

Wounded at Sailor's Creek April 6, 1865. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864. 



Died at Alexandria, Va., Oct. 31, 

received in action. 
Killed at Totopotomy. Va.. May 31 



1863, of wounds 
1864. 



•Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May »i, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY F 



477 



ROSTER OF COMPANY F 



NAME AND RANK. 



Captains 
"Richard P. Roberts 
"Thomas Henry 



ist Lieutenants 
John D. Stokes 

"Andrew M. Purdy 



2d Lieutenants 
"Alex. H. Calvert 

"Carmen M. Nelson 



ist Sergeants 
Joseph R. Harrah 

W. S. Shallenberger 

*John E. Harshe 

Sergeants 
"Darius Singleton 



Joseph W. Appleton 
Joseph R. Dunlap 

"Robert Riddle 

Thomas S. Anshutz 
"John Henderson 

Thomas J. Kerr 

Corporals 
"Andrew J. White 

James A. Lockhart 

"Alfred M. McCaskey 

Thomas Clark 
Madison Risinger 
•Ruel W. Strock 

Joseph O. Schley 

Seth W. Strock 



Mustered In. 



Aug. 21. 1862. 



Feb. 29, 1864. 


- 


Aug. 21, 1862. 




tt 


* 


u 


T 


u 

tt 
tt 


+ 
+ 



REMARKS. 



Promoted to Colonel Sept. 12, 1862. 

Promoted from 2d Lieutenant Sept. 24, 1862, and 
to Major May 1, 1865; wounded at Culpepper 
Court House May, 1864; died May 12, 1912, at 
Beaver, Pa. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
Jan. 15, 1864, on surgeon's certificate. 

Promoted from Sergeant to 2d Lieutenant March 
1, 1863; to ist Lieutenant March 2, 1864; killed 
at Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864. 

Promoted from Sergeant Sept. is, 1862; discharged 
on surgeon's certificate on Feb. 7, 1863. 

Promoted from Corporal to Sergeant March 1, 
1863; to 2d Lieutenant Dec. 10, 1864; wounded 
at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 

Promoted from Sergeant July 3, 1863. Beaver, 
Pa. 

Promoted to Adjutant Sept. 12, 1862; wounded at 
Todd's Tavern; discharged on surgeon's certifi- 
cate Oct. 8, 1864. Washington, D. C. 

Promoted from Sergeant March i, 1863; killed at 
Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Promoted from Corporal Sept. 16, 1862; commis- 
sioned ist Lieutenant Oct. 10, 1864; not mus- 
tered; wounded at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864; 
absent, sick at muster out. 

Promoted from Corporal; wounded at Gettysburg 
July 2, 1863. Industry, Pa. 

Promoted from Corporal; wounded and captured; 
discharged by general orders May 20, 1865. 
Lansing, Mich. 

•Vounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; transierrea 
to Vet. Reserve Corps March 5, 1864. 

Promoted to Sergeant-Major May 15, 1862. St. 
Petersburg, Fla. 

Promoted from Corporal July 3, 1863; killed at Po 
River May 10, 1864. 

Transferred to 53d P. V. May 30, 1865. Liver- 
pool, Ohio. 

Promoted to Corporal March 1, 1863; discharged 

by general orders May 31, 1865; Died Jan. 24, 

1911. 
Promoted to Corporal Feb. 16, 1864. Elwood 

City, Pa. 
Promoted to Corporal Feb. 16, 1864; died July 

8, 1010. 
Promoted to Corporal. 

Promoted to Corporal July 1, 1864. Nogales, Ariz. 
Promoted to Corporal; prisoner from July 2 to 

Sept. 23, 1863. 
Promoted to Corporal May 16, 1865; prisoner 

from July 2 to Dec. 27, 1863. 
Promoted to Corporal Sept. 2, 1862; discharged 

Tan. 4. 1864. 



"Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May 31. 1865. 



478 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



A. B. McKinzie 

John B. Clark 

George R. Boden 

Ira Kirker 

Andrew J. Diamond 

"Frank N. Johnson 

•John B. Douds 

Musicians 
•Thomas M. Anderson 
Taylor M. Stokes 

Privates 
James Anderson 
•John Anderson 
Jacob A. Baker 
George Bell 

•Benjamin Buckley 
Lewis O. Barnes 

Harvey Brown 

Benjamin A. Bonewell 

William H. Bruce 

William Bruce 

•Joseph Baker 
•John S. Bell 

Eli R. Brooks 
•Samuel C. Coulter 

James H. Cunningham 

Robert H. Cooper 

•William J. Cooper 

•James A. Carson 
•Fred. C. Cook 
•George W. Cooper 
•Daniel Crawford 

Samuel M. Dinsmore 
•William Doak 

•Jonathan I. Davis 

•John Douglass 



Mustered In. 



Feb. 2, 1864. 
Feb. 5, 1864. 

Aug. 21. 1S62. 



March 27, 1865. 
Feb. 29, 1864. 

Feb. 20, 1864. 



Aug. 21, 1S62. 



Feb. 27, 1864. 
Feb. 9, 1864. 



Aug. 21, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; trans- 
ferred to Vet. Res. Corps Feb. is, 1864. Wash- 
ington, D. C. 
Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; trans- 
ferred to Vet. Res. Corps Feb. 15, 1864. Beaver, 

Pa. 
Wounded; transferred Sept 1, 1863, to 7th Co., 

2d Bat., Vet. Res. Corps; discharged June 29, 

186s. Mediane Lodge, Kansas. 
Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps Jan. io, 1865. 

2314 Park Avenue, Kansas City, Mo. 
Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 1, 1864; tr»ns- 

f erred to 53d P. V., date unknown; discharged 

Aug 1, 1865, by general orders. 
Promoted to Corporal July 3, 1863; killed at 

Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 
Promoted to Corporal Feb. 10, 1864; killed at 

Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Died at Rochester, Pa. 
Discharged Dec. 6, 1863. 

Rochester, Pa. 

Killed at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 

Discharged by general orders May 30, 1865. 

Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; prisoner 
from Aug. 16, 1864, to March 3, 1865; dis- 
charged June 9, 1865, by general orders. 

Died since muster out. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 20, 1863. 
New Brighton, Pa. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 11, 1863. 
West Bridgewater, Pa. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; dis- 
charged Dec. 26, 1863, on surgeon's certificate. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; transferred 
to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17, 1863. 

Transferred to Co. D, nth Regt., Vet. Res. Corps; 
discharged July 7, 1865, by general orders. 

Killed at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Transferred to Co. D, 53d P. V., May 30, 186s. 

Captured; transferred to Co. D, 53d P. V., date 
unknown; died March 7, 1909. 

Wounded and captured at Cold Harbor June f, 
1864; transferred to Co. D, 53d P. V., date 
unknown. Beaver, Pa. 

Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17. 
1863. Winterset, Iowa. 

Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17. 
1863. 

Killed at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3. 1863. 

Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Died May 30 of wounds received at the Wilderness 
May, 1864; buried in National Cemetery, Arling- 
ton, Va. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; absent, sick 

at muster out; died May 1, 1912. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2. 1863; transferred 

to Vet. Res. Corps May 1, 1864- 
Transferred to 95th Company, 2d Battalion V. R. 

C, Dec. 6, 1865; discharged Aug. 21. 1865. 

expiration of term. . _ 



•Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY F 



479 



NAME AND RANK. 



'William H. Dinsmore 

•John S. Ewing 
•Henry Edwards 

Arthur Eclcles 
•Joseph Graham 
Francis M. Grim 



Thomas D. Grim 
Robert N. Gillen 



•Alvin L. Greenlee 

*Jame« T. Hays 

Abel Hunter 

•Philip Hoak 
'George M. Hoyt 
*Amos Hartsough 



•Seth W. Irwin 
•Samuel A. Johnson 



Hugh M. Kerr 
Adam H. Kerr 
James W. Knox 

•William Krepps 
James R. Lockhart 

Martin W. May 
•Madison Moore 

•John E. Moore 
Geo. W. Minesinger 
Harrison Miller 

Vincent Miller 

Michael Mason 
John McCullough 



Andrew McCullough 
James L. McCreery 
•William McClain 

William J. McCabe 

Joseph McFarland 
•John McManamy 

Smith McDaniels 

Robert H. McCaskey 

•George M. Nevin 



Mustered In. 



Feb. 25, 1864. 
Aug. 21, 1862. 
Feb. 27, 1864. 



Aug. 21, 1862. 



March 31, 1864. 
Aug. 21. 1862. 



Feb. 2;, 1864. 
Aug. 21. 1862 



Feb. 8, 1864. 

Feb. 25, 1864. 
Aug. 21, 1862 



Jan. 28, 1864. 
Feb. 27, 1864. 

Aug. 21, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Died at York, Pa., Aug. 18, of wounds received at 
Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Died July 26, 191 1. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
Oct. 25, 1864, on surgeon's certificate. 

Transferred to Co. D, 53d P. V., May 30, 1865. 

Died since muster out. 

Wounded with loss of leg at Spottsylvania Mav 
12, 1864; discharged March 16, 1865, on sur- 
geon's certificate. Jacksonville, Fla. 

Transferred to Co. D, 53d P. V., May 30, 1865. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863, and at Wil- 
derness May, 1864; transferred to Co. A, 18th 
Regt., V. R. C, Feb. 11, 1865; discharged June 
28, 1865, by general orders. 

Died of wounds received at Gettysburg July 2, 

1863. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. and at 

Spottsvlvania May 12, 1864, and at Petersburg. 
Wounded at Wilderness May, 1864; absent, sick 

at muster out. 
Killed at Totopotomy, Va., May 31. 1864. 
Died at Potomac Creek April 25, 1863. 
Wounded at Wilderness May, 1864; died June 25 

1864, at Washington, D. C.; buried in National 

Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 
Died March 7, 1910. 
Wounded at Cold Harbor June 1, 1864: promoted 

to 1st Lieutenant 2gth Regt., U. S. C. T.; died 

April i, 1 9 10. 



Wounded at Wilderness May, 1864; discharged 

April 7, 1865. Elwood City, Pa. 
Captured; drowned May 3, 1865. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 

Dec. 23, 1865;, on surgeon's certificate. 
Died since muster out. 
Wounded at Chancellorsville May 3. 1863; died 

March 5, 1912. 
Died since muster out. 
New Cumberland, West Va., R. F. D. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 

June s, 1865, by general orders. Monaca, Pa. 
Transferred to 53d P. V. May 30, 1865. Beaver 

Falls, Pa. 
Transferred to Co. D, 53d P. V., March 30, 1865. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; prisoner 

from July 3 to Sept 3, 1863; wounded at Cold 

Harbor June 1, 1864. Monaca, Pa. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 
Discharged March 2, 1863, on surgeon's certificate. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate May 27, 1863; 

died July 13, 191 2. Chester, West Va. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 3, 1863. 

West Bridgewater, Pa. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate June 30. 1863. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; killed at 

Spottsylvania May 12, 1864- 
Wounded at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate Dec. 6, 1864. 
Wounded at Wilderness, Va., May, 1864; captured; 

transferred to Co. D, 53d P. V., May 30, 186c. 

Freedom, Pa. 
Died July 11, 1864, of wound received at Spott- 
svlvania Mav 12, 1864. 



•Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



480 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



Knoch Neville 

* William Pyle 
•Andrew Robinson 
George Ryan 

•John S. Reed 

Henry Stephens 
*Adam Stone 
-John II. Short 

Christian Shivelay 

William Swearingen 



Thomas Small 



•John P. Small 

*Edwin K. Sloan 
* Louis Swearingen 
Enoch Strain 
Alvin M. Taylor 

John G. Thompson 



•Lewis J. Wagner 

•Michael B. Wilson 
•David H. Weaver 



'Richard Walton 
•Alexander White 
•John S. White 
'James Wilson 



Mustered In. 



March 27, 1865. 

Vllg. 2 1 1862. 



"eb. 9, 1864. 



Vug. 21, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Transferred to Co. D. 53d P. V.; discharged Aug- 
14. 1 86s, by general orders. Youngstown, Ohio. 

Died since muster out. 

Died since muster out. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2. 1863, and at 
Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps Sept. I, 1863; died 
Feb. 22, ioio. 

Elwood City, Pa. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate April 11, i86j. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania May 12. 1864; dis- 
charged Nov. 4, 1864, on surgeon's certificate. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate July is, 1864. 
Bellevue, Pa. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; promoted to 
1 st Lieutenant 32d Regt., U. S. C. T„ March 3, 
1864; mustered out Aug. 22, 186=. Hookestown, 
Pa. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; transferred 
to Co. A, iSth Regt., Vet Res. Corps, Feb. 11, 
1865; discharged June 28, 186s, by general 
orders. Beaver, Pa. 

Died Aug. 11 of wounds received at Gettysburg 
July 2, 1863. 

-Cilleci at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 

■oiled at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

deserted July n, 1863. 

Wounded and captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 
Beaver, Pa. 

Wounded at Wilderness May, 1864; transferred to 
Co. D, 53d P. V., May 30, 1865: discharged by 
general orders July 6, i86s. Mount Pleasant, 
Pa. 

Wounded at Bristoe Station, Va., Oct. 14, 1863; 
wounded at Wilderness May, 1864. 

.Vounded at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863; 
transferred to Co. G, iSth Regt., V. R. C, date 
unknown; discharged June 29, 186s, by general 
orders. 

.Vounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863: 
died June 19, 1863, at Washington, D. C. 

Oied at Alexandria, Va., of wounds received at 
Po River May 10, 1864. 

'lied at Alexandria, Va., June 12, of wounds re- 
ceived at Po River May 10, 1864. 

l-'ed at Philadelphia, Pa., July 20. 1863. 






'Deceased. 

fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY G 



481 



ROSTER OF COMPANY G 



NAME AND RANK. 



Captain 
"John Fraser 



"Henry H. Bingham 



"John F. Wilson 



1st Lieutenant 
Wilson N. Paxton 



2d Lieutenant 
•Joseph W. McEwen 

"Alex. M. Wilson 
John R. Paxton 



Sergeants 
William T. Pollock 

"James M. Patton 



David L. Taggart 
James L. Berry 

James B. Jackson 



"Thomas J. Weaver 
*Benjamin B. Black 
*Jasper E. Brady 

*James P. Kerr 

"James Van Volkenberg 

"Bankhead B. Barr 

"Thomas A. Perrine 



Corporals 
John C. Davis 

Enenezer G. Emery 



Mustered Ih. 



Aug. 22, 1862. 



t 
t 



REMARKS. 



Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel Sept. 4, 1862; to 
Colonel July 4, 1863; to Brevet Brigadier-Gen- 
eral March 13, 1865; wounded at Spottsylvania 
May, 1864; captured at Petersburg June 16, 
1864; died June 4, 1878. 

Promoted from 1st Lieutenant Sept. 9, 1862; 
wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; at Spott- 
sylvania May 12, 1864; at Farmville April 7, 
1865; captured at Boyd town Plank Road Oct. 
27, 1864; promoted to Major and Judge Advo- 
cate, U. S. V., Sept. 20, 1864; to Brevet Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel, to Colonel and Brevet Brigadier- 
General April 9, 1865; mustered out July 2, 
1865; died March 23, 1912. 

Promoted to 1st Sergeant May 4, 1863; to 2d Lieu- 
tenant Sept. 1, 1863; to Captain Dec. 10, 1864; 
wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; died April 
14, 1865, of wounds received March 25, 1865. 

Promoted from 2d Lieutenant Sept. 9, 1862; cap- 
tured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
May 17, 1865, Washington, D. C. 

Promoted from 1st Sergeant Sept. 9, 1862; ki'led 
at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863. 

Promoted to 1st Sergeant Sept. 9, 1862; to 2d 
Lieutenant May 4, 1863; killed at Gettysburg 
July 2, 1863. 

Promoted to Sergeant Aug. 7, 1863; to 1st Ser- 
geant Sept. 1, 1863; to 2d Lieutenant Dec. 10, 
1864. New York City, N. Y. 

Promoted to Sergeant Sept. 30, 1862; to 1st Ser- 
geant Dec. 10, 1864. Washington, Pa. 

Promoted to Sergeant Nov. 1, 1863; wounded at 
Robinson Cross Roads May 8, 1864; died March 
22, 1912. 

Promoted to Sergeant May 16, 1864. Olathe, Kan. 

Promoted to Sergeant Dec. 10, 1864. Humiston, 
Iowa. 

Captured at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863; trans- 
ferred to V. R. C. ; discharged April 26, 1865. 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Died at Harrisburg Sept. 29, 1862. 

\illed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Promoted to Sergeant Sept. 9, 1862; discharged on 
surgeon's certificate 1863; died Feb. 9, 1899. 

Promoted to Sergeant June 18, 1864; died Sept. 
2, 1897. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863; killed 
at Petersburg June 17, 1864. 

Promoted to Sergeant Sept. 9, 1863; died May 18, 
1864, of wounds received at Po River, May 9, 
1864. 

Promoted to Sergeant April 2, 1863; lost arm at 
Chancellorsville May 3, 1863; discharged on sur- 
geon's certificate Aug. 7, 1863; died July Si, 
1890. 

Promoted to Corporal July 4, 1864. Fort Collins, 

Colo. 
Promoted to Corpora! Nov. t. 1864. Hickory, Pa. 



•Deceased. t Mustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



482 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



Robert L. Stewart 
Dunning Hart 

John Gilkeson 

John R. Mitchel 
Joseph L. Moore 

•James G. Sloan 
•James S. Rankin 
*Wm. J. T. Patton 

•Ebenezer H. Martin 

•Henry G. McGinnis 
•Frank lams 

•Alexander Gaston 

•David W. Berry 

•Robert L. Speer 
•Joseph Wilson 

•Samuel R. Charlton 



Musicians 
•Josiah H. Carrell 

Privates 
•James Allison 

•John Arnold 
•Simon Arnold 
•Boyd E. Atkinson 
•William Armstrong 
•James Armstrong 

•John M. Berry 



•John Barr 
•David W. Boyd 
•David Boyce 
•Addison A. Coleman 
•Stephen Champ 

•Vincent Crawford 
•James N. Crawford 



Mustered In. 



Feb. 6, 1862. 



Aug. 22, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Promoted to Corporal Dec. 18, 1864; wounded at 

Gettysburg July 2, 1863; on detached service, 

Adjutant General's Office, 1st Division, 1864-6$. 

Lincoln University, Pa. 
Promoted to Corporal Aug. 24, 1862; wounded at 

Gettysburg July 2, 1863; transferred to V. R. C. 

Oct. 18, 1864; discharged July 12, 1865. Wash- 
ington. Pa. 
Promoted to Corporal Dec. 10, 1864; lost leg at 

Sailors Creek April 6, 1865; discharged Aug. 39, 

1865. Ashland, Neb. 
Transferred to Signal Corps Nov. 1, 1863; dis- 
charged June 24, 1865. Springfield, Ohio. 
Promoted to Corporal June 10, 1863; captured at 

Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged March 24, 

1865. Carthage, Mo. 
Promoted to Corporal June 1, 1863; died Nor. a, 

1897. 
Promoted to Corporal, Sept. 4, 1864; captured at 

Gettysburg July 2, 1863; died Nov. 13, 1878. 
Promoted to Corporal March 25, 1861; wounded 

at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863; died Not. 16, 

1909. 
Transferred to Signal Corps April 1, 1864; 

drowned at City Point, Va., June 23, 1864. 
Died at Falmouth, Va., June 1, 1863 . 
Promoted to Corporal April 1, 1864; killed at 

Totopotomy, Va., May 31, 1864. 
Promoted to Corporal June 1, 1864; killed at 

Petersburg June 17, 1864. 
Promoted to Corporal June 1, 1864; died July 4, 

1864, of wounds received at Cold Harbor June 

2, 1864. 
Promoted to Corporal Sept. 1, 1864; died Feb. 10, 

1865. 
Promoted to Corporal June 20, 1864; wounded at 

Cold Harbor June 2, 1864; discharged July 14, 

1865; died March 8, 1908. 
Mustered into service Feb. 6, 1864; transferred to 

53d Regt. P. V. May 30, 1865; died Sept. 17, 

1897. 



Promoted to Principal Musician March 1, 1864; 
discharged June 3, 1865; died Dec. 15, 1896. 

Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; died Jan. 6, 
1899. 

Accidentally killed Oct. 12, 1869. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Killed at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863. 

Killed at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. 

Lost arm at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate Aug. 14, 1863; 
died May 4, 1905. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864; trans- 
ferred to V. R. C. ; discharged June 28, 1865; 
died March 16, 1912. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2. 1863. 

Killed at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863. 

Died Sept. 2, 1903. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 8, 1864; 
died Jan. 13, 1896. 

Died at Falmouth, Va., May 31, 1863. 

Died Feb. is, 1896. 



"Deceased. -{-Mustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY G 



483 



NAME AND RANK. 



•Eli Crawford 

•George Davis 

"James S. Daggs 

"Charles R. Donaldson 
•William G. Donaldson 
John L. Gow 
•James W. Griffeth 

•Levi Griffeth 

•William S. Greer 



•George Greer 
•William A. Helt 

James Himmeger 

•David Havlin 
•John Hodgson 

•Joseph Hemphill 



•James Hamilton 
Joseph B. Johnson 



Robert S. Jackson 
•William II. Jackson 
•William A. Kerr 

•Cornelius D. B. Kirk 
•William H. Lemcn 



•Joseph Lawson 

•James Lynn 
George R. Murray- 
Thomas M. McNary 
George W. McGibbony 
Samuel B. McBride 



•John W. McMains 
•Robert K. Mcjunkin 
•James McGlumphy 

•John McNutt 
James W. Pollock 
Wayne J. Phillips 

•David B. Phillips 



REMARKS. 



Mustered in Cavalry Company; captured near 
Gettysburg July, 1863; died at Macon (Ga.) 
Prison. 

Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
Tune 9, 1865; died Sept. 19, 1902. 

Wounded at North Ann River May 24, 1864; dis- 
charged May 18, 1865; died Aug. 26, 1901. 

Died at Parkton, Md., Sept. 17, 1862. 

Killed at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863. 

Discharged May 31, 1865. Seattle, Wash. 

Wounded at North Ann River May 24, 1864; dis- 
charged June, 1865; died May 24, 1912. 

Died June 25, 1864, of wounds received at Peters- 
burg June 18, 1864. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
on surgeon's certificate Sept. 26, 1863; died 
Sept. 24, 1864. 

Died at Falmouth, Va., Feb. 16, 1863. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
May 12, 1865. Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
May 27, 1865. Canonsburg, Pa. 

Died June 27, 1897. 

Captured at Cold Harbor June 2, 1864; discharged 
June 10, 1865; accidentally killed Aug. 13, 1900. 

Transferred to Ind. Bat. C, Pa. Art. Dec. 17, 
1863; discharged June 8, 1865.; died April 4, 
1906. 

Died at Parkton, Md., Sept. 23, 1862. 

Transferred to Signal Corps April 1, 1864; cap- 
tured Oct. 28, 1864; discharged June 24, 1865. 
Canonsburg, Pa. 

Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
July 1, 1865. Toledo, Iowa. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 7, 1863; 
died Feb. 27, 1905. 

Wounded at Bristow Station Oct. 14, 1863; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate March 21, 1864; 
died Feb. 28, 1887. 

Wounded at Deep Bottom Aug. 16, 1864; dis- 
charged May is, 1865; died Dec. 20, 1907. 

Wounded and captured at Wilderness May 5, 
1864; died at Andersonville Prison Aug. 25, 
1864. 

Killed at Gettysburg Tuly 2, 1863. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 
Pa. 

Washington, Pa. 

Thomas, Pa. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 
charged on surgeon's certificate Dec. 
Sewickley, Pa. 

Died June 23, 1885. 

Died at Parkton, Md., Nov. 6, 1862. 

Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; wounded «t 
Petersburg March 25, 1863; discharged June, 
1865; died March 16, 1883. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Washington, Pa. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; transferred 
to V. R. C. Nov. 12, 1863; discharged July 7, 
1865. Canonsburg, Pa. 

Wounded and discharged May 15, 1865; died July 

13, 1907- . 



Thomas, 



1863; dis- 
18, 1863. 



'Deceased. fMvstered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



484 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 


Mustered In. 


REMARKS. 


•Robert B. Parkinson 

John T. Sumney 

David H. Sumney 
John M. Stewart 
William B. Stewart 

*John M. Speer 
*William Sheets 

*Cyrus Townsend 

"James Thomas 
David White 
James P. Weaver 

^Thomas Weaver 

*Joshua Weaver 
*Tohn M. Watson 
*Hugh Weir 
James Young 


"< t 
t 

'• 4. 

t 

t 

;; t 


Promoted to Quartermaster Sergeant Oct. 1 1, 

1864; discharged May 31, 1865; died Jan. 3, 

1804. 
Transferred to V. R. C. Sept. 20, 1864; dis- 
charged Julv s, 1865. Los Angeles, Cal. 
Eighty-Four, Pa. 
\bilene, Kan. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate Sept. 7, 1862. 

Moberly, Mo. 
Died March 13, i88<;. 
Transferred to V. R. C. Feb. 15, 1864; discharged 

1865; died Nov. 27, 1892. 
Promoted to Quartermaster Sergeant July 13, 

1863; discharged 1865; died Aug. 4, 1898. 
Died at Washington, D. C, Aug. 18, 1863. 
South Tacoma, Wash. 
Transferred to V. R. C. Nov. it, 1863; discharged 

July 7, 1865. Canonsburg, Pa. 
Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; died at 

Richmond (Va.) Prison Nov. 2, 1863. 
Died Oct. 3, 1905. 
Died April 22, 1909. 
Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 
Transferred to Ind. Bat. C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17, 

1863; discharged June 8, 1865. Canonsburg, 

Pa. 



•Deceased. fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 

All of the above list were mustered into the service Aug. 22, 1862, except Samuel Cope and 
.Samuel Charlton, the only recruits added to Company G. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY H 



48S 



ROSTER OF COMPANY H 



NAME AND RANK. 



Chaplain 
*Marcus Ormond 

Captain 
•Samuel Campbell 



Brevet Major 
* Samuel S. Kerr 



1st Lieutenants 
Austin Miller 
*John B. Vance 



•Addison Lance 



2d Lieutenant 
'Walter M. Lawrence 

1 st Sergeants 
William Thornburg 



•Arthur Shields 

Sergeants 
Joseph Moody- 
Robert M. Galbraith 
•John G. Robb 

John Nickle 
*William Ewing 



'Thomas N. Thornburg 

*James McD. Mitchell 

Corporals 
•Gibson Hood 

John Purdy 

•Joseph Calhoun 



Mustered In. 



REMARKS. 



Promoted from Captain to Chaplain. Oct. 23, 1862; 
discharged June 8, 1863; died 1883. 

Promoted from 2nd Lieutenant Nov. 1, 1862; 
wounded in throat at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, 
and in the thigh at Petersburg, Va., June 17, 
1864; discharged Sept. 18, 1864; died March 8, 
1887. 

Promoted from 1st Sergeant to 2nd Lieutenant 
Nov. 6, 1863; to Captain Dec. 10, 1864; to 
Bv. Major, April 7, 186s; died of wounds re- 
ceived at Farmville, Va., May 3, 1865. 

Resigned Aug. 12, 1863. 

Promoted from 1st Sergeant to 2nd Lieutenant, 
Nov. 1, 1862; to 1 st Lieutenant, Nov. 6, 1863; 
wounded at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864; dis- 
charged by reason of wounds, Sept. 28, 1864; 
died April 22, 1898. 

Promoted from 1st Sergeant to 1st Lieutenant, 
Dec. 11, 1864; wounded at Spottsylvania, May 
12, 1864; died Nov. 3, 1901. 

Promoted from Sergeant to 2d Lieutenant, Dec. 
11, 1864; died Dec. z-j, 1906. 

Promoted from Sergeant to 1st Sergeant, Dec, 
1864; wounded at Cold Harbor, June 6, 1864 
and at Petersburg, Va., July 2, 1864. Present 
address, Beaver, Pa. 

Promoted from 4th Sergeant to 1st Sergeant, Nov. 
6, 1863; wounded at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863; 
died April 17, 1901. 

Promoted from Corporal, Dec. 24, 1864. Present 
address, Beaver, Pa. 

Promoted from Corporal; date of death unknown. 

Promoted from Corporal, Feb. 25, 1865; died 
March 12, 1895. 

Promoted from Corporal; lost right leg at Hatch- 
er's Run, Va. Present address, Hookstown, Pa. 

Promoted from Corporal; wounded at Spottsyl- 
vania, May 12, 1864 and in the Wilderness. 
May 4, 1864; discharged — date unknown; died 
March 26, 1908. 

Promoted from Corporal; died July 7, 1863, from 
wound received at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. 

Promoted from Corporal; killed at Spottsylvania, 
May 12, 1864. 

Promoted from Corporal; wounded at Gettysburg, 
July 2, 1863, also at Spottsylvania, May 12, 
1864; died 1871. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, also at 
Spottsylvania. Va., May 12, 1864. Present ad- 
dress. New Sheffield, Pa. 

Promoted to 1st Lieutenant, United States Col- 
ored Infantry; wounded at Chancellorsville. Va., 
May 3, 1863 and Dec. 9, 1864 at Hatcher's Run; 
died Aug. 6, 191 1. 



•Deceased. fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



486 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



Charles M. McCoy 

•James Finegan 

*Geor<*e Summerville 

John W. Stevens 

"George Fox 
•Thomas J. Miller 



•Alexander Greer 
•Richard M. Crouse 



Adjutant 
•John S. Bryan 

Musicians 
•Timothy Shane 
Richard Shane 

Frank D. Kerr 



Privates 
•Hugh Q. Adams 

John G. Adams 

•James B. Babb 

•Thomas Bryerly 
•William Brunton 

•James H. Beal 
•Samuel W. E. Byers 

Harry J. Boyde 

•John Blackmore 
•Johnston Berlin 
•Samuel W. Barnes 

•Samuel Chapman 

William G. Cowan 

•James Cameron 

William Calhoun 



Musteked Ik. 



March 24, 1864. 



Aug. 22, 1862. 



t 

t 



REMARKS. 



Promoted to Corporal Dec. 24, 1864; wounded at 
Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, and at Wilderness, 
May 6. 1864; Present address, Indianola, Iowa. 

Promoted to Corporal, Dec. 24, 1864; date of 
death unknown. 

Promoted to Corporal, Dec. 24. 1865; wounded 
at Gett"sburg, July 2, 1863; died Nov. ->o, 1695. 

Promoted to Corporal, Feb. 25, 1865. Present ad- 
dress unknown. 

Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal, Feb. 25, 1865; wounded 
at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863; transferred to 2d 
Battalion Veterinary Reserve Corps, Oct. 20, 
1864; discharged Aug. 21, 1865; died June 6, 
1892. 

Promoted to Corporal, Aug. 22, 1862; killed at 
Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. 

Promoted to Corporal; wounded at Deep Bottom, 
Va., July 28, 1864; died from wound received 
at Hatcher's Run, Va., Dec. 9, 1864. 

Promoted from Musician to Adjutant of Regi- 
ment; died March 28, 1874. 

Died Sept . 191 1. 

Discharged by general orders, July 1, 1865. 
Present address, Hookstown, Pa. 

Promoted to 1st Lieutenant, Coles' Maryland 
Cavalry, April 14, 1864; mustered out June 28, 
1865. Present address, Hookstown, Pa. 

Discharged by general orders June 12, 1865; died 
June 27, 1903. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, Aug. 27, 1863. 
Present address, Georgetown, Pa. 

Wounded at iSristow Station, Va.; discharged by 
general orders, June 22, 186s; date of death 
unknown. 

Wounded May 12, 1864 at Spottsylvania Heights; 
died June 10, 189=;. 

Wounded July 2, 1863 at Gettysburg; discharged 
on surgeon's certificate, March 11, 1864; died 
May 14, i90i._ 

Captured at Bristow Station. Oct. 14, 1863 and 
died in Libby Prison, Richmond, Va., in 1863. 

Wounded May 12, 1864 at Spottsylvania, Va. ; 

Transferred to Veteran Reserved Corps; dis- 
charged by general orders July 12, 1865; date 
of death unknown. 

Present address, Beaver, Pa.; absent on detached 
service at muster-out of company; discharged 
June 30, 1865. 

Killed at Gettysburg, luly 2, 1863. 

Killed at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. 

Died Aug 2. of wound received at Gettysburg, 
July 2, 1863. 

Mustered out with Company, May 31, 1865; died 
Dec. 5, 1902. 

Mustered out with Company, May 31, 1865. Pres- 
ent address. Los Angeles. Cal. 

Wounded May 31, 1864 at Totopotomy, Va. ; trans- 
ferred to Veteran Reserved Corps; discharged 
by general orders July 14, 1865; died April 27, 
1903. 

Present address, Gatebo. Okla. ; mustered out with 
Company, May 31, 1865. 



•Deceased. fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY H 



487 



NAME AND RANK. 



•William M. Carothers 

*John Criswell 

•James Crooks 
•William O. Custer 
Christopher Cameron 
*Andrew A. Carothers 
•David B. Coffey 
* George W. Cain 

'Stewart Campbell 

•William Conlin 

James Dornan 

•Shaffer Dever 

•Alexander Ewing 

•Henry Ewing 

•Alexander Flanegan 
•Thomas J. Foster 

•Jacob R. Fleegel 

*Abram Funkhouser 
•John M. Green 
•John C. Gibb 

•James Hood 
Jonn W. Hall 

William B. Hall 

•Robert Hall 

•Frank Hamilton 

•Thomas Hughs 

•William W. Herron 

•Robert Hutchinson 

Ezekiel Inman 

•William Kennedy 
Samuel Kevan 



Mustered In. 



REMARKS. 



Feb. 29, 1864. 
Feb. 22, 1864. 

Aug. 22, 1862. 



Feb. 22, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Feb. 20, 1864. 



March 1, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Feb. 22, 1864. 

Feb. 17, 1864. 
Feb. 29, 1864. 

Feb. 25, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 

March 31, 1864. 



Wounded May 3, 1863 at Chancellorsville, Va.; 
transferred to Veteran Reserved Corps, Mar. 
S, 1864; discharged by general orders, June 29, 
1865; died Oct. 6, 1908. 
Transferred to Veteran Reserved Corps, March 
31, 1864; discharged by general orders July 8, 
1865 ; died July 15, 1891. 
Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Artillery, date 
unknown; died April 26, 1904. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, March 27, 
1863; died Nov. 16, 1890. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, June 23, 1863; 
died 1866. 

Promoted to Hospital Steward in Regular Army, 

Feb. 12, 1864; died March 7, 1865. 
Wounded May 12, 1864 at Spottsylvania, Va. ; 
discharged Jan. 18, 1865; died May 2, 1887. 

Lost right arm May 12, 1864 at Spottsylvania, 
Va. ; discharged on surgeon's certificate, Jan. 
.18, 1863; died 1868. 

Died of wound received at Totopotomy, Va., June 
13, 1864; buried in National Cemetery, Arling- 
ton, Va. 

Died July 21 of wound received at Gettysburg, 
July 2, 1863. 

Discharged by general orders, May 15, 1865. Pres- 
ent address, Frankfort Springs, Pa. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864; 
transferred to Veteran Reserved Corps, June 
30, 1865; died Nov. 1903. 

Died May 25 of wound received at Spottsylvania, 
May 12, 1864. 

Died July 21 of wound received at Gettysburg, 
July 2, 1863. 

Mustered out with Company May 31; died 1900. 

Lost left foot May 12, 1864 at Spottsylvania, Va. ; 
discharged on surgeon's certificate Sept. 29, 
1864; died March 15, 1873. 

Died Sept. 20 of wound received at Deep Bottom, 
Aug. 16, 1864: buried at Philadelphia, Pa. 

Killed at Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865. 

Died Jan. 3, 1802. 

Died Aug. 4 of wound received at Gettysburg, 
July 2, 1863. 

Absent; sick at muster out; died June 10, 1909. 

Wounded May 12, 1864 at Spottsylvania, Va. 
Pressnt address, East Liverpool, Ohio. 

Transferred to Veteran Reserved Corps; dis- 
charged by general orders, June 28, 1865. 
Present address, Beaver, Pa. 

Wounded at Totopotomy, June 13, 1864 and Pet- 
ersburg, Va., June 17, 1864; discharged by gen- 
eral orders June 30, 186?; died Sept. 25, 1903. 

Transferred to Regiment P. V., May 30, 1865; 
died June 22, 1902. 

Discharged by general orders June 5. 1865; died 
Nov. 16, 1909. 

Killed at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 
12, 1864; buried in Wilderness burying grounds. 

Died Aug. 8 at City Point, Va., of wound re- 
ceived at Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864. 

Discharged by general orders May 27. 1865. Pres- 
ent address, Ava, Douglass Co., Iowa. 

Died Jan. 30, 1891. 

Discharged by general orders May 30, 1865. Pres- 
ent address, Hookstown, Pa. 



•Deceased. tMustered out with Company May 31, 1S65. 



488 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



•David Keifer 
•Henry H. Keifer 

Robert Laughlin 
Wilson W. Latham 
•Joseph W. Lawrence 
•Silas D. Lockhart 



James M. Lutton 

William Martin 
•James H. Melvin 
Thomas E. Moore 
Andrew R. Miller 
•David M. Minesinger 

Samuel W. Miller 

John H. Moore 

Samuel Minesinger 

•William Morrison 

John Mahoney 

•James Miller 

•William Metz 
Gabriel Miller 
Alex. L. McKibben 

•Thomas S. McCready 

Washington McHenry 
•James M. McClure 

•William McCreary 

•James Mc. Phillips 
•William J. Parks 

William Parkinson 

William Purdy 

•William A. Ramsey 

•John A. Robb 
George M. Shingles 
James P. Smart 



Samuel Swearingen 
Joseph Swearingen 



Mustered Ik. 



Aug. 22, 1862. 
Feb. 22, 1864. 

Aug. 22, 1862. 

it 

Feb. 27, 1864. 
Feb. 29, 186.1 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Feb. 22, 1S64. 
March 31, 1864. 
March 24, 1864. 

Aug. 22, 1862. 

March 28. 1864 
Feb. 26, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



March 22. 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 

tt 

(( 

Feb. 27, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1S62. 



REMARKS. 



Killed at Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865. 

Died July 16 of wound received at Spottsylvania. 

Va., May 12, 1864. 
Present address, Faulkner, Kans. 
Present address, Burgettstown, Pa. 
Promoted to Hospital Steward Sept. 27, 1862. 
Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864; 
transferred to Compan- G, 53d Reg. P. V., 
May 30, 1865. 
Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate. May 6, 1865- 
Present address, Glenwilliard, Pa. 
Date of death not known. 
Died Jan. 22, 1900. 

Died at City Point, Va., Jan. 1, 1865. 
Present address, Hookstown, Pa. 
Transferred to Battery C, Pennsylvania Artillery, 

July 21, 1864; died June 5, 1893. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, May 23, 1863; 

died in 1878. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, Dec. 9, 1863. 

Present address, Wellsville, Ohio. 
Transferred to Co. G, 53d Reg. P. V., May 30, 

1865. Present address, Empire, Ohio. 
Transferred to Co. H, 53d Reg. P. V., May 10, 

1865. 
Taken prisoner June 17, 1864; transferred to 
Co. G, 53d Reg. P. V., May 30, 1865; date of 
death unknown. 
Died Oct. 26, 1864 in New York Hospital of dis- 
ease; buried in Cypress Hill Cemetery, L. I. 
Killed at Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864. 
Died in Confederate Prison. 
Discharged by general orders July 13, 1865. 

Present address, New Sheffield, Pa. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, March 14. 

1863; died Aug. 22, 1910. 
.Missing in action at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. 
Transferred to 109 Co. 2d Battalion, V. R. C, 
Jan. 1, 1865; discharged by general orders, 
Sept. 19, 1865; died 1898. 
Died May 18 of wound received in action May 

14, 1864. 
Killed at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, June 30, 1863; 

date of death unknown. 
Transferred to Co. G, 53d Reg. P. V., May 30, 

1865; died March 4, 1910. 
Missing in action at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 

1864. 
Transferred to Veteran Reserved Corps, July 
1, 1863; discharged May 30, 1865; date of death 
unknown. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, date un- 
known; date of death unknown. 
Wounded at Wilderness, Va., May 8, 1864; dis- 
charged May 30, 1865. 

Wounded May 12, 1864 at Spottsylvania; trans- 
ferred to Veteran Reserved Corps, date un- 
known; discharged by general orders July 3, 
1865. 

Present address, Hookstown, Pa. 

Absent on detached service at muster-out; dis- 
charged by general orders May 30, 1865. Pres- 
ent address, Milford, Nebr. 



•Deceased. fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY H 



4«9 



NAME AND RANK. 



*David G. Scott 

*Alcx. W. Shannon 
* Samuel bmith 

Garrett Standish 
*John Summerville 

Alfred W. Standish 
•Robert G. Savage 
■"Junius M. Strouss 
*Hezekiah W. Swaney 

Samuel Torrence 



*James A. Taggart 
'Thomas F. Thornburg 
*William H. Uncapher 



*Jaspcr Whims 
*Newton Whims 
Joshua K. Whims 

* Frank Woodrow 
♦William Wherry 

* David R. Whitehill 
•William Yolton 

*John Yolton 



Mustered In. 



March 31, 1864. 

Feb. .'.', 1864. 
n 

Feb. 8, 1864. 
Aug. 22. 1862. 



Feb. 22, 1864. 



Aug. 22, 1862. 
Oct. 20, 1863. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 



Ausr. 22, 1862. 



Feb. 22, 1864. 
March 24, 1864. 
Aug. 22, 1862. 

n 

March 29, 1864. 



REMARKS. 



Wounded at Hatcher's Run, Va., Dec. 9, 1864: 
discharged by general orders Aug. 14, 186?; 
date of death unknown. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate, Feb. 23, 1863; 
died 1872. 

Discharged by special order, Oct. 12, 1864; died 
1881. 

Transferred to Co. G, 53d Reg. P. V., May 30, 
1865. Present address, Brownsville, Ore. 

Transferred to Co. G, 53d Reg. P. V., May 30, 
1865; discharged by general orders June 30, 
1865; date of death unknown. 

Discharged by general orders July 17, 1865. Pres- 
ent address, Luck Boy, Ore. 

Killed at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 
12, 1864. 

Died Jan. 10, 1865 of wound received at Hatch- 
er's Run, Dec. 9, 1864. 

Killed in action at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12. 
1864. 

Lost right arm at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864; 
discharged on surgeon's certificate, Jan. 12, 
1865. Present address, Beaver, Pa. 

Killed July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg. 

Killed at Hatcher's Run, Va.. Dec. 9, 1864. 

Died of typhoid fever Aug. 19, 1863, at Baltimore. 
Md. ; buried in National Cemetery, Louden 
Park. 

Lost right arm at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864; 
date of discharge unknown; died Jan., 1898. 

Promoted to 2d Lieutenant, U. S. C. T., Oct. 24, 
1864; died Feb. 4, 1911. 

Lost left arm at Hatcher's Run, Va., Dec. 9, 1864; 
discharged on surgeon's certificate May 20, 1865. 
Address, San Diego, Cal. 

Transferred to Co. H, 53d Reg. P. V., May 3c, 
1865; died Oct. 4, 191 1. 

Wounded May 12, 1864 at Spottsylvania; died 
1902. 

Killed at Hatcher's Run, Va., Dec. 9, 1864. 

Wounded May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate, date unknown; 
died May 19, 1894. 

Wounded May 12, 1864 at Spottsylvania; dis- 
charged by general orders, May 15, 1865; date 
of death unknown. 



'Deceased. fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



190 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 

ROSTER OF COMPANY I 



NAME AND RANK. 



Captains 
James Darragh 
♦William McCalhster 



Lieutenants 
•Thomas C. Nicholson 

Louis R. Darragh 



2d Lieutenant 
Geo. A. Shallenberger 

1 st Sergeants 
James H. Springer 



* David W. Scott 



William A. McMillen 



♦William C. Smith 

Sergeants 
Robert Dickey 

John E. Harton 
Robert W. Anderson 

Rev. John D. Irons 
Benjamin F. Welsh 



Corporals 
Tames H. Douds 
William Ussclton 
Jacob Seafler 

Samuel Reed 
Christian Molter 

Joseph T. Johnson 
J. Dickson Craig 

Robert Ramsey 
Thomas B. Hunter 

David E. McCallister 



Mustered In. 



Aug. 25, 1862 



+ 



REMARKS. 



Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 28, 186.1. 
Promoted to 1st Lieutenant April 11, 1863; 

wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; died April 

25, 1912. 

Promoted from Sergeant to 2d Lieutenant Dec. 19. 

1862; to i st Lieutenant April 11, 1863; discharged 

on surgeon's certificate Dec. 13, 1863; died 

April 29. iqio. 
Promoted from 1st Sergeant to 2d Lieutenant 

April 20, 1863; to 1st Lieutenant Jan. 2, 1864; 

wounded at Petersburg June 17, 1864. 



Promoted to Captain and A. Q. M. U. S. Vols. 
Nov. 26. 1862; mustered out Nov. 8, 1865. 

Promoted from Sergeant; captured at Gettysburg 
July 2, 1863; wounded at Petersburg June 17. 
1864; wounded at Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865; 
discharged by general orders June 5, 1865. New 
Sheffield, Pa. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 2. 1863; promoted 
from Sergeant April 20, 1863; discharged on 
surgeon's certificate Feb. 20, 1864; died Aug. 

3. 1911. 

Promoted from Corporal to Sergeant Sept. 18. 
1862; to 1st Sergeant July 1, 1864; to 2nd Lieu- 
tenant Co. E April 18, 1865; wounded at Gettys- 
burg July 2, 1863. Kansas City, Mo. 

Promoted from Sergeant March 11, 1864; killed at 
Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal Sept. 18, 1862; to Sergeant 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

Promoted from Corporal Sept. 1, 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal April 20, 1863; to Sergeant 
Jan. 1, 1865; absent on detached service at 
muster out. New Brighton, Pa. 

Promoted to Corporal July 1, 1864; to Sergeant 
April 19, 1865. Oakmont, Pa. 

Promoted from Corporal April 21, 1863; trans- 
ferred Sept. 19, 1864, to Co. B, 19th V. R. C; 
discharged by general orders July 3, 1865. 



Promoted to Corporal Jan. 1, 1865. 

Promoted to Corporal Jan. 1, 1865. Pittsburgh, 
Pa., N. S. 

Promoted to Corporal Jan. 1, 1865. 

Promoted to Corporal April 19, 1865; discharged 
by general orders June 3, 1865. 

Promoted to Corporal April 19, 1865. 

Promoted to Corporal April 19. 1865. Nairn, 
Sciota Ci unty, Ohio. 

Oischarged on surgeon's certificate March 3, 1863. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate Dec. 26, 1864. 

Promoted to Corporal July 1, 1863; transferred 
Dec. 20, 1S64 to Co. A, 1 8th Regt., V. R. C; 
discharged by general orders June 28. 1865. 



♦Deceased. 

yMustered out with Company May 31. 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY I 



49i 



NAME AND RANK. 



A. W. McClintock 



*William M. Agnew 



*Samuel Erwin 

Musicians 
Wash. D. Tallon 
Henry C. Johnson 

Henry R. Moore 

Privates 
Robert Baker 

John Baldwin 
John Border 
George M. Brooks 
Daniel Brown 
*John T. Bruce 



*George S. Bailev 
*John Black 

"Joseph Bamford 



* Samuel Brown 
John B. Coleman 
John A. Cain 
Joseph II . Champion 



M. V. B. Chambers 



'John Camp 

George Dailey 
Kelsey Dailey 
*Wm. H. H. Ewing 



'George Eaton 



Jacob Fisher 
* William Frazier 

James B. Faucett 
'Israel Ferguson 

"John S. Gillen 

Alexander Gilmore 
'Joseph Gilmore 



•William P. Gibson 
*Tames Hammond 
*Samuel Hammond 
John R. Hays 

Daniel Harvey 



Mustered In. 
Feb. 19, 1864. 
Aug. 25, 1862. 



Jan. 18, 1864. 

Aug. 25, 1862. 
Feb. 3, 1864. 
Aug. 2?, 1862. 



T 

+ 



REMARKS. 



March 31, 1864. 



Wounded at Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865; dis- 
charged by general orders June 19, 186s; Con- 
nellsville, Pa. 

Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 186 a; died at 
Richmond, Va., Sept. 13, 1863; buried in Na- 
tional Cemetery, Sec. 6, Div. i, Grave 192. ' 

Promoted to Corporal Dec. 10, 1863; killed at 
Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Beaver, Pa. 

Promoted to Musician May, 1863. Welles Wile, 

Ohio. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 13, 1863. 

Captured at Bristow Station, Va., Oct. 14, 1863- 

absent at muster out. 
Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. Monaca, Pa. 
Ottawa, Kansas. 

Discharged by general orders June 24, 1865. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate Sept. 24, 1863 
Transferred to Co. E, 19th Regt., V. R. C, Oct. 

29, 1863; discharged by general orders July 13, 

1865. 
Died April 13, 1864. 
i)ied at Philadelphia, Pa., July 24, 1863, of wound 

received at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 
Died at New York N. Y., Aug. 27, 1864; burial 

recorded Oct. 27, 1864; buried in Cypress Hill 

Cemetery, L. I. 
Died at Falmouth, Va., May 18, 1863. 



Transferred to Co. G, 6th Regt., V. R. C, Aug. 

10, 1864; discharged by general orders July 14, 

1865. 
Transferred to Co. C, 22d Regt., V. R. C, May 

15, 1864; discharged by general orders July 3, 

1865. 
Died at Washington, D. C, July 3, 1864, of 

wounds received at Cold Harbor June 1, 1864. 
Deserted Dec. 17, 1862. 
Deserted Dec. 17, 1862. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate Dec. 26, 1863; 

died March, 1910. 
Wounded at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864; 

transferred to Co. H, 53d Regt., Pa. Vols., May 

30, 1865. 
Rochester, Pa. 
Wounded at Sailor's Creek, Va., April 6, 1865; 

absent at muster out. 

Killed at Spottsylvania. Va., May 12, 1864; buried 

in burial grrunds, Wilderness. 
Wounded at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864; 

absent at muster out. 

Transferred to Co. C, 6th Regt., V. R. C; dis- 
charged by feneral orders July 7, 1865; died 
Sept. 5. 191 1. 

Died at East Liverpool, Ohio, Oct. 18, 1863. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 27, 1863. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 19, 1863. 

Beaver Falls. 
Wounded at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864; 

discharged bv general orders May 13. 1865. 



*Deceased. 

fMustered out with Company May 31, 1S65. 



492 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



Levi Hamilton 
George E. Hamilton 



*Joseph Hedding 

James W. Johnson 

William J. Johnson 
William Johnson 
'Marshall T. Johnson 



*Tames L. Jones 
Leonard C. Kerr 

John Mitchell 
*Luther Maginnis 

*Henry Molter 

Isaac Minor 
James Miller 

* Enoch M. Main 
*Louis Miller 



*George Marks 

Andrew Marshall 
Thomas McCoy 

*Milo McCov 

*Edward McMahon 
Lemuel Neville 

James W. Orr 

Theopolis C. Philips 



William A. Pribhle 


« 




Henry S. Rabb 


Tune 5, 1865. 




Thomas Rambo 


Aug. 25, 1862. 


* 


Joseph Rodenbaugh 


tt 




*Levi Rhodes 


tt 




Otis Seely 


** 


T 


Daniel Shafer 


it 


J. 


Tohn F. Southwick 


tt 


•5- 


Stephen Stone 


tt 




Porter Shevlin 







* Thomas Shawness 

"Tames W. Shafer 
Tohn Todd 
William L. Todd 
William D. Welch 

*Eli Watson 

James Wise 
Patrick Wise 



Mustered In. 



March 28, 1864. 
Aug. 25, 1862. 



Jan. 30, 1864. 
Aug. 25, 1862. 



March 2, 1864. 



Aug. 25, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Transferred to Co. H, 53d P. V., May 30, 186$. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania. Va., May 12, 1864: 
transferred to V. R. C. Dec. 20, 1864. Mercer, 
Pa. 

Died at Washington, D. C, of wounds received at 
Deep Bottom, Va., Aug. 16, 1864; buried in 
National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 

Discharged by general orders June 28, 1865. 
Canonsburg, Pa. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Feb. 28, 1863. 

Transferred to V. R. C. Nov. 14, 1864. 

Captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; died 
Aug. 26, 1863, at Annapolis, Md. ; buried in 

^ TJ. S. General Hospital Cemetery. 

Killed at Totopotomy Creek, Va., May 31, 1864. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864. Bos- 
worth, Ohio. 

Mingo, Ohio. 

Promoted to Hospital Steward U. S. A., Sept. 17, 
1864; died July 23, 1911. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate May 16, 1863; 
died July, 1909. 

Transferred to V. R. C. Sept. 2, 1864. Vanport. 

Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17, 
1863. 

Died July 3, 1863. 

Died April 5, 1864, at Brandy Station, Va.; buried 
in National Cemetery, Culpepper Court House, 
Block 1, Sec. A, Row 4, Grave 112. 

Captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; died 
at Richmond, Va., Sept. 10, 1863. 

Deserted, date unknown. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Jan. 13, 1864. 

Killed at Todd's Tavern, Va., May 8, 1864. 

Killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate Aug. 31, 1864. 
Industry, Pa. 

Died of wound received at Po River, Va., May 10. 
1864. 

Captured at Chancellorsville, Va., May 1, 1863; 
wounded and captured at Todd's Tavern, Va., 
May 5, 1864; died at Lynchburg, Va., July IS, 
1864; buried in Poplar Grove, National Ceme- 
tery. Div 2. Sec. E, Grave 155. 

Transferred to V. R. C. April 2, 1864. 

Discharged by general orders June 5, 1865. 

Kingsville, Ohio, R. F. D. 

Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17. 
1863. New Castle, Pa. 

Killed at Deep Bottom, Va., Aug. 14, 1864. 



Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 27, 1863. 
Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Feb. is, 

1864. 
Captured at Gettysburg, Pa.. July 2, 1863; died at 

Richmond, Va., Dec. 9, 1863. 
Died at Potomac Creek, Va., June 6, 1863. 

Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 27, 1863. 

Captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; died, 

date unknown. 
Wounded at Wilderness, Va., May 5, 1864; absent 

at muster out. 
'intured at Gettysburg. Pa.. Tulv 2. 186?. 



•Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY I 



493 



NAME AND RANK. 



Leroy A. Wise 
Andrew Watterson 



James Watterson 



*Howell Walton 
T. W. Zimmerman 



Mustered In. 

Jan. 1 8, 1864. 
Aug. 25, 1862. 



REMARKS. 



Wounded at Deep Bottom, Va., Aug. 16, 1864; dis- 
charged on surgeon's certificate May 19, 186.5. 
Milton, West Va. 

Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 19, 1864; 
transferred to 53d Regt., Pa. Vols., May 30, 
1865. 

Died at Falmouth, Va., Feb. 14, 1863. 

Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps, date unknown. 



•Deceased. 

fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



494 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



ROSTER OF COMPANY K 



NAME AND RANK. 



Captain 
•W. A. F. Stockton 

ist Lieutenant 
*Alex. Sweeney, Jr. 

2d Lieutenant 
•William B. Cook 



i st Sergeants 
"George Ralston 
Benjamin F. Powelson 



Sergeants 
•Milton R. Boyd 

•Ed. S. Alexander 
•VV. R. H. Powelson 



John A. McCalmont 

•Thomas C. Hays 
•Samuel K. Shindle 

•Joseph S. Graham 

Corporals 
Silas Cook 

J?™* s K - p - McGill 
•William Porter 

George Hanlin 
Marshall Wright 

James C. Lyle 
Abraham Andrews 

•John D. McCabe 

•William Hanlin 



Isaac Donaldson 
•William Miller 
•William L. Pry 

Musicians 
Geo. W. McConnell 
Jesse J. Morris 

Privates 
James B. Allison 
Peter Andrews 
•James Arthurs 
•James S. Berryhill 
Lazarus Briggs 



Mustered In. 



Sept. 4, 1S62. 



* 



-r 

+ 



REMARKS. 



Brevet Major April q. 1865; died July 21, i$77: 
buried at Cross Creek Cemetery. 

Brevet Captain March 13. 1865; absent on detached 
service at muster out; died June ig, 1912. 

Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; discharged 
May 17, 1865; died Dec. 30, 1870. Pittsburgh. 
Pa. 

Oied at Claysville, Pa., Aug. 28, 1874. 

Promoted to ist Lieutenant 41st U. S. C. T. Sept. 

22, 1864; discharged Sept. 30, 1865. Boulder. 

Colo. 

Discharged by general orders May 27, 1865; died 
May 2, 1804. 

Wounded July 2 at Gettysburg; died April, i8qo. 

Wounded May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania; pro- 
moted to Sergeant July 21, 1863; died April 1 6, 
1007. 

Promoted from Corporal March 26, 1865. Bulger, 
Pa. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Captured at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; died at 
Aridersonville, Ga., March 17, 1864; burial rec- 
ord Mav is, 1864. 

Killed at Petersburg March 25, 186s. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania May 12, 1S64; absent 

at muster out. Early, Iowa. 
Pueblo, Colo. 
Promoted to Corporal Dec. 17, 1863; died Dec. 

16, 1883. 

Wounded at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12, 1864. 
Ellwood City, Pa. 

Promoted to Corporal May 12, 1865. 

Promoted to Corporal March 16, 186s. Latrobe. 
Ohio. 

Discharged Feb. 23. 1863. on surgeons certificate; 
died Sept. 7. 1909. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; dis- 
charged May is, 1865; died Nov. 6, 1906. 
Denver, Colo. 

Died at Falmouth, Va., Feb. 14. 1863. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863; died 
at Falmouth, Va., May 21, 1863. 



Carrollton, Iowa. 

Promoted to Principal Musician Dec. 22, 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Prosperity, Pa. 

Mount Oliver, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Died July, 1874. „ „ 

Houston. Washington County, Pa. 



1864- 



•Deceased. 

fMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



ROSTER OF COMPANY K 



495 



NAME AND RANK. 



Daniel J. Butterfoss 
*Benj. B. Buchanan 
George W. Carter 
Andrew Chester 



•James E. Cochran 
Ezra Conway- 
Joseph A. Corbin 



•Isaac W. Chishold 



•Jesse M. Carter 

"Thomas Carter 
*David W. Corbin 
•Benjamin Cummins 
•.Tames A. Cummins 
Robert B. Dugan 

•John M. Day 
•Henry Dickson 



•Michael Dougherty 
•Andrew B. Davis 
•Benjamin F. Earnest 

•James A. Fordyce 

•Joseph C. Fraser 

John Fulton 
•William M. Geary 

George Gardner 
•John F. Gardner 

•Joseph Guess 
•Isaac Golden 
*Benj. F. Hawthorn 



•John Henderson 
•Robert Hull 
•George W. Johnson 

William A. Tackson 

•Robert Lyle 

John Makeowen 
•Isaac Miller 

Enoch Mounts 

•George Morrow 
Robert Meldoon 



•John Maloy 
•John Marshall 



Mustered In. 



March 27, 1864. 
Sept. 4. 1862. 



REMARKS. 



discharged 
Eldersville, 

transferred 
1864; dis- 
1897. 
12, 1864: 



12, 
12, 



1864. 
1864. 



1 86s; died 



died 



\bsent, sick at muster out; discharged on sur- 
ge n's certificate 1865; died July 29, 1896. 
^charged March 20, 1863. on surgeons certifi- 

Vounded at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864. Hills- 

boro. Washington County. Pa. 
Wounded at Cold Harbor June ■ 7 , 1864; a^ent at 
muster out. Eighty-four, Washington County. 

Pa 
Jied'at Barnesville, Ohio, April 7, 1902. 
fonongahela City, Pa. 
Abounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; 

by general orders May 15. 180=;. 

Washington County, Pa. 
Wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863; 

to Co. G, 9th V. R. C March 20, 

charged June 26, 1865;. died Oct 20, 
Vounded at Spottsylvania, Va., May 

died 1894- . , 

villed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 
lied April 21, 1863. 
Idled at Spottsylvania May 
^lled at Spottsylvania May 
1 scharged by general orders May 29, 

at Leavenworth, Kansas, Feb. 27, 188b. 
discharged on surgeon's certificate Dec. 12, 1863 
Vounded at Spottsylvania May 12. 1864, trans 
f erred to V. R. C. date unknown; died in san 
Diego, Cal., July 18, 1898. 
)ied at Brandy Station, Va., March 3, 1864. 
;;ed at Parkton, Md., Dec. 9, 1862. 
Vounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 12, 1 

at Brandy Station Dec. 14. 
Vounded at Deep Bottom, 

Claysville July 22, 189=;. 
iiischarged Sept. 30, 1863, on 

died Nov. 20, 1900. 
deserted Dec. 3i< 1862. 
Died June 25, 1866. 
discharged March 20, 1863. 
Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. 
1863; died in Iowa Oct. 1, 1896. 
billed at Spottsvlvania May 12. 1864- 
)ied at Washington, D. C, April 15. 1863. 
Vounded at Spottsylvania, Va., May 12. 1864: 
transferred to Co. E, oth Regt., V. R. C, date 
unknown: discharged June 26, 1865, on general 
orders: died Tulv II. 191 1. 
Died at Parkton, Md., Dec. 7. 1862. 
Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 
Wounded at Petersburg, Va., June, 

September 10, 1904. 
Captured, date unknown; discharged 
orders Nov. 2, 1864. Carnegie, Pa. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate March 14 

died July 1, 1894- 
Vbsent. sick at muster out. 
Vounded and captured at Wilderness May. 

absent, sick at muster out. 
Discharged on surgeon's certificate May 2?,, 

Washington, Pa. 
Died at Philadelphia, Pa., May 27. 1863. 
.Vounded at Gettysburg. Pa., July 2, 1863; 
charged on general orders May ii, 1805: 
Tune, 1885, at New Castle, Pa 
Killed at Todd's Tavern, \ a., May 8, 1864. 
■<-' -it Parkton. Md., Nov. 17. 1863. 



1863 
Va., 



1864; died at 
surgeon's certifica'e; 



Art., Dec. 17. 



1864; died 
on general 
1863; 

1864; 
1863. 



dis- 
died 



•Deceased. 

t Mustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 



496 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH REGIMENT 



NAME AND RANK. 



*Morris Metcalf 
Robert McClure 
*Benj. McCullough 
•Owen McElfish 
*James K. McCurdy 



"Harrison McConnell 

Colin R. Nickerson 

*John W. Nickerson 

'Thomas L. Noble 
James L. Noah 

Robert A. Pry 
David McC. Pry 

William Rea 

'William A. Rufner 
'George Reed 

William Scott 
Nathaniel Seese 
George Sprowels 
Oliver Staley 
William Stoller 
Frank Stiver 
'Henderson Scott 

'Jesse M. Sprowells 
George Stare 
'Johnson Toppin 

'John W. Tucker 
'Robert Virtue 
'Ulysses Wheeler 



"Thomas Wilkins 
James Worstell 



Mustered In. 



? eb. 5, 1 86s. 
Sept 4. 1862. 



eh. 20, 1864. 
Sept. 4. 1862. 



+ 






+ 

T 



REMARKS. 



Died in Washington County, Pa., March 17, iS6s. 

Paris, Washington County, Pa. 

Died at Steubensville, Ohio, July 15, 1904. 

Transferred to 153d P. V. Feb. 25, 1864; pro- 
moled to Assistant Surgeon in 153d P. V.; died 
Aug. 12, 1891. 

Discharged as minor by special order, date un- 
known; died Paris, Pa., Julv 17, 1892. 

Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 186.1. Clays- 
ville, Washington County, Pa. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863: 
transferred to V. R. C. Nov. 16, 1863; died from 
effects of wound April 8, 1867. 

Promoted to Commissary Sergeant Sept. 18, 1862: 
died at Dennison, Tex., Sept., 1890. 

Transferred to Ind. Battery C, Pa. Art., Dec. 17, 
1863. 

Wellesburg, West Va. 

Transferred to V. R. C, Feb. 6, 1865. Burgetts- 
town. Pa. 

Wounded with loss of leg at Todd's Tavern, Va., 
May 8, 1864; absent, in hospital at muster out. 

Discharged May 20, 1863; died 1886. 

Transferred to Co. F, 53d P. V. May 30, 1865: 
died March 9. 1912. 

Avella, Washington County, Pa. 

■\bsent, sick at muster out. 

Washington, Pa. 

Wounded, date unknown. Shreve, Ohio. 

Harmony, Butler County, Pa. 

Discharged by special order March 12, 1863; died 
at Sierraville, Cal., Feb. 9, 1905. 

Killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Deserted July 1, 1863. 

Wounded at Gettysburg July 1, 1863; transferred 
to V. R. C. Feb. 6, 1864; died 1884. 

Killed at Todd's Tavern, Va., May 8, 1864. 
iied at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. 

Wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May, 1863: 
wounded at Todd's Tavern May 8, 1864; died 
Oct. s, 1904. 

Wounded, date unknown. 

Wounded at Wilderness, Va., May 8, 1864; trans- 
ferred to Co. K, 6th Regt., V. R. C, date un- 
known; discharged Julv 5, 1865. Canonsburg, 
Pa. . 



'Deceased. 

tMustered out with Company May 31, 1865. 




u 
C 



c 



Pi 

Pi 

t/i 

Pi 



< 

p 

P 
f- 



t/. 
pi 

c 



Pi 
If. 



ADDENDA 497 

JUBILEE ANNIVERSARY. 

The fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Regi- 
ment was held at Waynesburg, Pa., in connection with the 
thirty-eighth annual reunion of the Regimental Association, 
on the Eighth day of October, 19 12. 

Lieutenant-General Nelson A. Miles was the guest of 
honor on this memorable occasion, and made the principal 
address at the afternoon meeting. 

At the business meeting following the completion of the 
literary work of the Regimental History was announced, and 
a sample copy of the volume, soon to be issued, was presented. 

The campfire, held in the Opera House, was attended by 
a crowd which packed the building to its utmost capacity. 

Addresses were made by Prof. R. L. Stewart, historian 
of the Regiment ; Dr. John R. Paxton, of New York ; Con- 
gressman Thomas Crago, and Chaplain James E. Sayers of the 
Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers. 



WOMAN'S AUXILIARY. 

The Woman's Auxiliary to the One Hundred and 
Fortieth Regiment was organized in Waynesburg, Pa., Sep- 
tember 21, 1909, the object being to look after the comforts of 
the wives and daughters accompanying the veterans to the 
annual reunions, thereby making these occasions more enjoy- 
able to the women folks belonging to the Regiment. The 
officers of the first year were Mrs. Harry J. Boyde, president; 
Miss Minna Moody, vice-president ; Mrs. Bradford Johnson, 
secretary. The officers at the present time are Mrs. Bradford 
Johnson, president ; Mrs. George R. Murray, first vice-presi- 
dent; Mrs. John M. White, second vice-president; Miss Myrta 
Emery, secretary. 

(Signed.) Mrs. J. Bradford Johnson, Pres. 

This organization, it should be added, has contributed not 
a little to the enjoyment of the men folk of the Regiment, also, 
who have been privileged to attend these delightful reunion 
seasons. 




'OLD ABE." 



AFTERWORD. 

By the Chairman of the Committee on Publication. 

The historian has completed his work. He has been given 
unlimited discretion. He will not speak for himself. His work 
speaks for him. On behalf of the other members of the committee, 
a few words should be added. The long delay in publishing a 
history of our Regiment has been a cause of deep regret to many 
comrades. It now appears that the delay has enabled the historian 
to produce a book of greater historic value, as well as of greater 
literary excellence than would have been possible at an earlier date. 
The historian, Professor Robert Laird Stewart, D.D., is a comrade 
of Company G. He has completed the work assigned him with 
remarkable ability and celerity. He kept a diary during the period 
of his service and also made systematic use of his epistolary talents 
in letters that have been preserved. He has thus added to the 
voluminous data collected and prepared by his comrades, a wealth 
of personal knowledge and accurate information of rare value. He 
has written a charming story and has verified all his statements by 
tireless and conscientious research. Salient features only, in a 
long campaign, have been selected and graphically described with the 
skill and judgment of an author and writer of large experience. 
The reader naturally asks who is Comrade Stewart? The answer, 
in brief, is that his life is typical of the ideal volunteer soldier of 
America, the greatest asset of our free Republic. He was born in 
Murraysville, Pa., August u, 1840; the son of Zachariah G. Stewart, 
M.D., and the grandson of Rev. Francis Laird D.D. He left the 
senior class at Jefferson College to enlist in the Company raised by 
his instructor, Professor John Fraser. In the battles of Chancel- 
lorsville and Gettysburg he was in the thick of the fight. In the 
former he was stunned for an instant by the concussion of a burst- 
ing Schrapnel schell, a fragment of which cut a corner of his cart- 
ridge box. In the latter his well filled haversack was shot through 
by a fragment of shell which bruised his limb. His education and 
talent attracted the attention of his superiors and he was detailed 
to the headquarters of the Division, as chief clerk to the Adjutant 
General, 1864-65. He served with great credit to the close of the 
war. In 1865 he resumed his studies in college and graduated in 
the same class with our distinguished comrade and generous patron. 
Dr. John R. Paxton. In 1866, Washington and Jefferson Colleges 
conferred on Comrade Stewart the degree of A.B. ; in 1867 the 
degree of A.M., and in 1895 the degree of D.D. He graduated at 



500 AFTERWORD 

the Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny, Pa. in 1869, and 
was ordained a minister of the Presbyterian Church the same year. 

He was married to Miss Sarah Ewing of Oakdale, Pa., in 1870. 
She is still his active help-meet in the true sense of the word. 
After serving several churches he removed to Colorado in 1873 and 
for nearly six years was superintendent of schools as well as pastor 
of a flourishing church. 

In 1879 he was sent abroad as a delegate to the Evangelical 
Alliance meeting at Basle, Switzerland, and travelled for a year in 
Europe and the East, giving special attention to the Holy Land. He 
visited the British Isles and the countries of Northern Europe in the 
summer of 1892. For ten years, 1880 to 1890, he was pastor at 
Danville, Pa. where he gave evidence of special fitness as a leader 
of young men. Since 1890 he has been a professor in Lincoln Uni- 
versity, Pa. In 1893 the chair of Pastoral Theology, Biblical Archae- 
ology and Christian Evidence was established in the Theological 
Seminary, of which he has been the incumbent since that date. 
For more than a score of years he has been the Dean of the Faculty 
of the University. Professor Stewart is a valued contributor to 
various periodicals; author of the Land of Israel, published in 1899; 
Memorable Places Among the Holy Hills in 1903 and A Notable 
Life of Sheldon Jackson in 1908. The History of the One Hun- 
dred and Fortieth, his latest literary work, will add to his high 
reputation as an author and well deserves, as it will surely receive, 
the grateful recognition of every comrade and friend of the Regi- 
ment. 

W. S. Shallenberger. 



INDEX 



Acheson, Captain David, n, 105, 12s, 
301, 306, 309-310. 

Acheson, Alex. W., 309, 310. 

Acquia Creek, 25, 83. 

Allegheny City, Pa., 2. 

Amelia Courthouse, 262. 

Amity, Washington Co., 312. 

Antietam-battlefield, 146, 293. 

Appomattox Courthouse, 198 — Lee's sur- 
render at, 269-275, 276, 358, 396. 

Appomattox River, 242, 336. 

Army of Northern Virginia, 81, 95, 173; 
surrender of, 269, 274. 

Army of the Potomac, 7, 81, 209, 222, 
245, 252-3, 276 — March through Rich- 
mond, 277 — Grand Review of, in 
Washington, 279, 344. 

Arnold's Battery, 186. 

Association Regimental — Organization of, 
403; Reunions of, 403-417; Historical 
Committee of, 408. 

Atlanta, 248. 

Auburn — battle of, 157-159. 

Baltimore, 13, 20, 21-22, 357. 

Barlow, General F. C, 173, 181, 214, 221, 

231. 
Barlow's Division, 180, 181, 190, 197, 199, 

201, 205-209, 210, 217, 218, 223, 226. 
Battle-flag of Regiment, 19, 106, 198, 282, 

442-443. 
Battle, first experience in, 52. 
Battles in which the 140th participated, 

411. 
Barriers, presentation of, 410. 411. 
Battery, 5th Maine — support of, 70, 72-75, 

118, 362. 
Bealton Station, 155, 157. 
Beaver, Pa., 347, 414. 
Beaver County, 4, 8, 323, 337. 347. 
Beaver, General Jas. A., 12, 55, 239. 
Bebout, James A., 313, 319. 
Beeson, Sergeant, 198, 443. 
Bell, Lieutenant J. Fulton, 398. 
Belgian Rifles, 12, 32, 292, 348. 
Bermuda Hundred, 231. 
Berry Hill, 163. 
Bingham, General H. H., 7, n, 124, 129, 

335. 367, 384. 388, 403, 412. 
Birney, General, 100, 185, 209, 220, 230. 
Blue Ridge, 82, 155. 

Bomb-proofs, 241; election in, 244, 318. 
Bowling Green. 203. 
Boyde, Harry J., 337, 347. 
Boyde, Mrs. Henry J., 497. 
Boydtown Plank Road, 240, 241, 251, 267. 
Boyle, Rev. T. N., 304. 
Brandy Station, Va., 82, 155-157, 163. 
Brigade 3rd (Zook's), 26, 59, 73, I02 > II0 > 

in, 113- 
Brigade 1st (Miles), 154, 161, 162, 167, 

174, 180, 182, 190, 194-196, 197, 198. 
Bristoe Station. 159, 181. 
Brooke General, 103, 113, 198, 446. 
Brown, Dr. Alex., 329. 
Brown Guards, 329. 
Brown House (Spottsylvania), 192. 
Bryan, Adjutant J. S., 379. 



Bullock's Clearing, 64, 82. 

Bull Run (second), 85, 160. 

Burksville, 273, 275, 276. 

Burns, Professor J. C, 5. 

Burns, Captain J. A., 5-6, 108, 261, 267, 

290, 395-397- 
Burnside, General, 29, 30-32, 222, 227. 
Butler, General, 172. 

Caldwell, Brigadier General J. C, 83, 101, 

103, 156, 173, 447. 
Caldwell's Division, 83, 96, 102-103, 112, 
114, 147, 156-7, 158, 172, 362, 446, 
449- 
Calhoun, Rev. Joseph, 344. 
Cameron, Hon. Simon, 10. 
Calvert, Lieutenant Alex., 423-425. 
Camp-fre Reminiscences, 434-445. 
Campbell, Captain Samuel, 205, 340, 344. 
Camp, Curtain, 9, 298, 314, 325. 
Camp Howe, 8, 152, 291, 329. 
Camp Seward, 12, 13, 20, 292, 339. 
Canal-boat, transportation by, 298. 
Canonsburg. 7, 29, 304, 329, 33t, 355, 367. 
Capitol, Washington, 22-23, 279. 
Catlett Station, 158, 159. 
Cattell, Dr., 10. 
Cedar Run, 157. 
Centreville, Va., 84, 159. 
Chambless, General, 231. 
Chancellor House, 49, 64, 66, 68, 70-74, 

79, 362, 418. 
Chancellorsville Campaign, 49-80; the 
crossing of the Rappahannock, 49-50; 
battle of May 1st, 52-57; of May 2nd, 
58-63; Jackson's flanking movement, 
59; stampede of nth Corps, 59-61; 
Miles' Skirmish line, 59, 62, 65; battle 
of May 3rd, 64-76; last stand at the 
Chancellorsville House, 66-75. 
Chandler House, Va., 68, 70. 
Chickahominy River, 204, 207, 217. 
City Point, Va., 239. 
Clemens, James B., 310. 
Cleaver, Louis M., 310. 
Cold Harbor, 207-214, 217, 319. 
Collier, Rev. Frank J., 331, 332. 
Companies, position of, n, 83. 
Companies, Historical Sketch of, 289-359. 
Cooke, Sergeant Silas, 180. 
Cooper, Corporal P. A., 310. 
Corby, Father, at Gettysburg, 101. 
Corps Second, see under head of Com- 
manding Officers. 
Corps badges, 45. 
Couch, Major General D. N., 55, 67, 69, 

72, 79, 83. 
Couch's Corps, 25, 30, 49, 79. 
Cracker-fight. See Todd's Tavern. 
Crago, Thomas, 497. 
Craig, Captain R. C, 299, 300. 
Cross Creek, Pa., 351. 
Cross, Colonel E. J. T., 103. 
Crumrine. Hon. Boyd, 307, 415. 
Cu1nep^»r. tso, ic6, 173. 
Culps Hill (Gettysburg), 94, 97, 117, 120, 

145- 
Cunningham, Lieutenant, 2, 265, 309. 



502 



INDEX 



Curtin, Governor, 2, 8, 201. 
Curtin, Mrs., 172. 
Curtin, Camp, 8, 9, 201. 

Deep Bottom, Va., 226, 229-231, 233, 320. 

Deserters, punishment of, 151. 

Deserters from Confederate Army, 249-250, 

Deserter pardoned by President Lincoln, 
152. 

Devil's Den (Gettysburg), 97, 100, 116. 

Dickenson, Anna, 169. 

Division First. See names of its com- 
manders. 

Division (1st) Band, 160. 

Divisions Grand, A. of P., 26, 32, 45. 

Dress Parade, 36. 

"Drumming out" of service, 44-45. 

Early, General .Tubal, 229. 

Edinburg University, 365. 

Edward's Ferry, 86, 363. 

Ely's Ford (Rapidan), 176, 178. 

Emery, Doctor, 34. 

Emery, Miss Myrta, 497. 

Epochs — Campaign of, 1864, 202, 203. 214, 

228. 
Ewell, General, 95. 117. 1 5~. '59. 164. 193- 
Ewing, Miss Sarah, 500. 

Falling Waters, Md.. 147. 148, 3- 6 - 

Falmouth, Va., 25, 78, 316, 325, 357. 

Farewell Greetings, 7. 329. 

Farmville, Va., 262, 2S0, 358. 

Faville, Major, no. 

Fayettville, 157. 

Flag presentations, 19, 303, 304. 

Flag of 140th. See Battle Flag. 

Fort Fisher, 248, 249. 

Fort Steadman, 254. 

Fox, Colonel W. F., 282-283. 

Franklin, General. 32. 

Eraser, General John, 7, 10, 12, 104, 109, 

112, 124, 161, 168. 180, 196, 203, 224, 

245, 275. 329- 361, 365-369. 375. 409. 

422. 499. 
Frederick, Md., 87-88, 276. 
Fredericksburg, Va., 28, 31-32. 276. 
Freedman's Concert at Cross Roads, in 

Vinginia, 276. 

Gainesville, Va., 84, 85. 

Gap Thoroughfare. 84, 85. 

Germanna Ford (Rapidan), 165, 167, 176. 

Gettysburg, battlefield of, 94. 96. 

Gettysburg, battle of, chapters VIII and 

IX; second day's battle, 98-119; third 

day, 120-127; losses at Gettysburg, 121- 

131; battlefield commission, 407. 
Gibbon, General John, 185, 199, 201-2, 209. 
Gibbons, John S., 3. 
Giebner. Captain, 298. 
Glenning, Lieutenant-Colonel, 6th >.. \., 

224. 
Gordon, General John B., 42, 115, 116, 

178, 179. 194. 240. 254, 396. 
Grace, Greenwood, 169. 
Grant, United States General, 127. 173, 

181, 185, 189, 200, 207, 211, 216, 232, 

243, 272, 292. 
Gregg. Captain Aaron, 321. 
Grecg's Cavalry, 159, 176, 182, 230-236. 
Grove. Captain, 299. 
Guard du*y, 1?. 
Gum Springs, Va., 86. 



Hacerstown, Md., 146. 

Hamlin, Vice-president, 169, 172. 

Hancock, General, 2, 25, 129, 174-176, 193, 

200, 220, 226, 235, 413, 418. 
Hancock's Division, 27, 52, 58, 76, 79. 
Hancock's Corps, 83, 182, 186, 190, 207, 

210, 216, 227, 279. 
Hancock's farewell order, 246. 
Hancock at Chancellorsville, 53-54, 62, 68, 

362. 
Hancock at Gettysburg, 90-91, 101, 115, 

124, 129. 
Hancock at Spottsylvania, 190-194. 
Hancock at Reams Station, 235. 
Hare House, Va., 221. 
liarper's Ferry, 149, 293. 
Harter, Mrs. I. H., 369, 403. 
Hartranft, General, 254. 
Hatchers Run, 247-248, 258, 267, 453. 
Haymarket, Va., 85. 
Hedge. Lieutenant C. T., notes of, 196. 

205, 211. 
Henry, Captain (Major), 70, 106, 196, 202, 

214, 221, 226, 232, 238, 248, 325, 360, 

372, 373, 403. 412, 415. 418. 
Heth, (ieneral. 234-236, 239. 
High Water Mark (Gettysburg), 127. 
Hill, General, 164, 223. 
Hill, Dr. B. F., 381. 
Homeward March, A. of P., 272-278. 
Hoke, Joseph, 114. 
Hooker, Major-General Joseph, 33, 46, 48, 

Si, 63, 70, 88. 
Hospital Field at Gettysburg, 121. 
Howard, General, 90. 

Howard's Corps at Chancellorsville, 59-60. 
Humphreys, General, 115, 147, 181, 198- 

199, 247, 280. 

Impedimenta, on march, 24. 
Ingraham, Colonel Prentiss, 271. 
Irish Brigade, 43, 101, 104, 196, 422. 
Irons, Rev. John D., 351. 

Jackson, Stonewell, at Chancellorsville, 

53, 59, 62, 63. 
James, Army of, 253. 
"Tames River, 218-21Q, 231. 
"Jefferson College, Pa., 7, 329, 333, 365. 

417. 
Jersey City, N. J., 245. 
Jerusalem Plank Road, 223, 228. 
Johnson, General, Md., 193, 195. 
Johnson, ex-Governor, Pa., 2. 
Johnson, J. Bradford, 407. 
Johnson, Mrs. Bradford, 497. 
Jubilee Anniversary, 497. 

Kelly's Ford (Rappahannock), 149, 163, 

171. 
Kemster, Mrs. Frances, 369. 
Kilpatrick, General, 173. 

Last Day's March, 278. 

Laird, Francis D. D., 499. 

Lecture course — Stevensburg, Va., 169. 

Lee, Confederate General, 14, 95, 123, 126, 
155, J "2. 208, 2ii, 270, 358. 

Lee. Fitz Hugh, 274. 

Libby prison, 277. 

Lincoln, President, 23, 46, 243, 244, 249, 
252, 271. 327 — pardon of deserter by 
153; news of assassination of, 275. 



INDEX 



503 



Linton, Captain C. L., 70, 75, 301, 309, 

3'6, 317. 362. 
Liverpool Point, 24-25. 
Longstreet, General, 81, 95, 101, 114, 115, 

117- „ 
Lossing, Benson, 273. 
Loudon Valley, 148, 149. 
Lupines Battery. See 5th Maine Battery. 
Lynch, Colonel James C, 238. 
Lynchburg, 268. 

Macy, General Geo. N., 247. 

Mahone, General, 182, 247. 

Maine 1st Regiment, 221. 

Maine Fifth Battery, 70, 72, 75, 118. 

Manassas, 160. 

Manchester, Va., 160. 

Mannan, Lieutenant James. 312, 316. 

Marshall, Hon. Thomas M., 2. 

Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, u. 46. 

278, 280. 
Maryland, invasion of, 14. 
McBride, Rev. Samuel, 76-77, 335. 
McCallister, Captain VVm., 106, -'48. 
McCandless, Judge, 2. 
McCandless, Colonel, 114. 
McClellan, General, 208, 280, 393. 
McEwen, Lieutenant Joseph, 71. 
McCullough, Captain J. F., io,6, 197, 205, 

206, 214, 189, 291, 388-389. 
McGlumphey, J. S., 256. 
McLaws, General, 62. 

McLean House ( Appomattix), 269, 272. 
Meade, General George, 55, 88, 95, 147. 
154-155, 164, 173, 200, 204, 254. 419. 
Meagher, General Francis, 43-44- 
Mendell, Major, 192. 
Mercer, Pa., 298. 

Mess No. 9 (Company G), 34. 336. 
Michigan 26th Regiment. 232, 257, 262, 

264, 453-454- 

Miles, General Nelson A.. 59, 62, 154, 162, 

167, 194,197, 198, 281, 362, 40:. 497. 

Miles' (1st) Brigade, 154, 161-162, ii.-. 

174, 180, 182, 194-196. 197, 200, 230, 

282, 379. 

Miles' (1st) Division, 231, 234-235. 240, 

281, 358, 432. 
Milligan, Chaplain J. Lynn, 171. 206, 383- 
386, 408, 411. 

Mine Run, Va. 164-169, 383. 

Ministers of the gospel of 140th, 335, 
451-452. 

Minton, Lieutenant M., 312. 

Mitchell, General Wm. G., 12}. 

Mitchell, Corporal John R., 449-451. 

Monkton, Md., 353. 

Monongahela City, 321. 

Monongahela River, 291. 

Monuments (Gettysburg), of the 140th, 
107, 131, 405-406. 

Moody, Sergeant Joseph, :oG, 346. 

Moody, Miss Minna, 497. 

Morgan, General, Chief of Staff, 128, 165, 
216, 236. 

Morrisville. Va., 149. 151. 

Morton's Ford (Rapidan), 172. 

Mountain Run, Va., 167-168. 

Mud Campaign, 32-33. 

Mud, Virginia, 33, 86. 

Mulholland, Major (General). 75- If »4. 406. 

Murray, Rev. Geo., 335. 

Murray. Mrs. Geo. R.. 497. 

Music ITall or Ranidan, 160. 

Muster "in." 8. 9. 



Muster "out," 272, 285. 

Namozine Road, 267. 

North Anna River, 201, 203, 214. 

Northward to Gettysburg, Chapter VII, 

148. 
Northern Central Railroad, 292-3, 339. 

Occouquan River, 84. 
Orange Mountain Range, 150. 
"Old Abe." 498. 
Old Hundred, 170. 
Oliver, Adjutant Thos. P., 429. 
Ormand, Chaplain Marcus, 171, 339, 382. 
Ord, General, 227, 254. 

One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pa. Vols., 
12, 15, 21, 70. 

Pami'nky River, 202, 214. 

Parker, Captain Silas, 302, 304, 312, 314, 

3i6, 397- 
Parkton, Md., 13, 152, 292, 293, 315. 
Paxton, Captain W. N., 7, 106, 392-3. 
Paxton, Lieutenant John R., 10, 332-335, 

393-304. 400, 437, 497, 499. 
Paxton. Oliver, 407. 

Peach Orchard (Gettysburg), 108, 116, 125. 
Peninsula Campaign, 1. 
Perrine. Thos. A., 333. 
Petersburg, Va., 217, 210-220, 222, 225, 

-•47, 249, 250-1, 252, 259. 
Pleasanton, General, 82. 
Pickett, General, 208, 259. 
Pickett's charge, 122. 
Picket duty. 37-38, 76, 242, 316. 
Picket exchanges, etc., 41-42, 255. 
Pipes, Captain J. M., 106, 109, 242, 238-9, 

270, 390-391- 
Pittsburg, Pa., 8; return to, 286. 
Plum Run (Gettysburg), 427. 
Police duty, 315. 

Pollock, Sergeant Wm. T., 332, 335. 
Pollock, J. W., 329. 
Po River, 184-188. 
Pontoons, 50. 

Porter, General Horace, 179. 
Potomac, Army of, 2, 7. 80, 89, 173, 279. 
Poultry Farm in Va., 430. 
Powelson, Sergeant B. F., 36, 162, 180, 

183, 197. 231, 353, 401. 
Power, Color-Sergeant Jessie T., 106, 

198, 322, 442. 443. 
Proclamation of President Lincoln, 2. 
Proctor, Edna Dean, 217. 
Psalms, 49, 121. 

Purdy, Lieutenant Andrew, 221. 
Purman, Lieutenant J. J., 6, 8, 106, 109, 

289, 390, 394-395- 

Rapidan River 151, 153, '54. 165. 168, 
169. 

Rappahannock River, 38-42, 82, 148, 149, 
434- 437-440. 

Rappahannock Station, 150. 

Rav. Captain J. M.. 267, 309, 311, 378. 

Rankin, Rev. J. S., 335. 444- 

Religious services 171. 

Retreat of Confederates from Pennsyl- 
vania, 127-128. 

Reviews, notable, 30, 46, 277, 344- 

Reunions, Regimental, 403-417. 

Reynolds. General, 90. 

Rhodes. Tames Ford. 182. 

Richmond, Va., 1, 208, 231, 259, 277. 



504 



INDEX 



Riddle, Color-Sergeant Robert, 106, 325, 

44-^. 445- 
Riddle, Rev. Dr., 331-33-'. 
Rifles, Springfield, 32. 
Roberts, Colonel R. P., 26, 105, 107, 109, 

298, 306, 323, 360-365. 
Robertson's Tavern, 165, 167. 
Rodgers, Lieutenant-Colonel, 1, 106, 208, 

■231. 251. 277, 298, 328, 370-372. 
Round Top (Gettysburg), 94, 96, 100, 102. 

1 1 Si h6. 

Sailor's Creek, 263, 358. 

Sayers, Jas. E., 497. 

St. James College, 146. 

St. Patrick's Day, 43-44. 

Sanders, Silas A., 310. 

Savannah, Ga., 248. 

Saw mills, captured, 169. 

Schurz, General Carl, 55, 78. 

Scotch Irish, 5, 339. 

Sedgewick, General, 30, 173, 178, 181. 

Sedgewick's Corps, 51, 56, 82. 

Shallenberger, Adjutant Wm. S., 69, 106, 
107, 183, 325, 374-377. 419- 

Shallenberger, George, Assistant Quarter- 
master, 348, 349, 398-399- 

Sharp, Assistant Surgeon Dr. W. W., 381. 

Sherfy's Peach Orchard, 100, 104, 114, 

364- 

Sheridan, General Phil., 207, 252, 254, 258, 

260, 261, 266. 
Sick Call, 35. 
Sickles, General Daniel, 52, 97-100, 115, 

116. 
Skirmishing, as a fine art, 187. 
Sloan, Rev. Dr., 34. 
Slocum, General, 120. 
Smalley, John. 310. 
Smith, Dr. Wm., 332. 
Snowden, Colonel Louden, 417. 
South Side R. R., Va., 222, 258, 261, 267, 

399- 
Spies in Maryland camp, 16-17. 
Spy, execution of, 146. 
Spottsylvania, Va., 181, 184; storming of 

salient, at, chapter XIV, 192-199, 283. 
Staff, Regimental, 11. 
Stafford Courthouse, 84. 
Stampede of nth Corps, 60. 
Stanton, Secretary, 243. 
Steers, Texas, 57. 
Steuart, General H., 193, 195. 
Stewart, Rev. R. L., 335, 408, 407, 499- 
Stuart, General J. E. B., 64, 82, 85, 155. 
Stuart, ex-Governor, Pa.. 131. 
Stump of tree (Spottsylvania), 195- 
Stevensburg, Va., 163. 
Stockton, Captain W. F., 232, 248, 266, 

302, 303, 353, 401, 402. 
Sumner, General. 28-30, 32, 348. 
Sumner's Right Grand Division, 26, 45. 
Sunstroke on march, 229. 



Sutherland Station, 260, 261. 

Swartz, A. J., 319. 

Sword of Colonel Roberts, 440. 



David, Color Sergeant, 188, 442- 



Taggart, 

445- 
laneytown, Md., 89, 145. 
Tanner, Lieutenant Geo., 299. 
Taylor, Lieutenant, 289, 290. 
Thanksgiving Days. A. of P., 
Thompson, Will H., 271. 
Tigers, Louisiana, 75. 
Todd's Tavern, battle of, 182-184, 
Totopotomy Creek, 205, 207, 214, 



245- 



444- 

3-'i. 



Union Armies, 62, 175. 
Uniontown, Aid.. 87, 88. 
United States Ford (Rappahannock), 
78, 150. 



SC 



301, 309, 340. 



430, 


431. 


433- 


4, 2 


6, 66 


122, 


254 


279. 





Vance, Captain Isaac. 7, 
Vanderslice, J. W., 113. 
Van Kirk, Sergeant, 310 
Vicksburg, 127. 



Wagon train, capture of, 
Walker. General F. A.. 
I57;9, 174- 197, 22 + 
War, Civil, losses in, 455. 
VVar-time, letters, etc., 418-431. 
Warren, General G., 90, 115, 150, 157, 

160, 166, 173, 181, 227, 233, 259. 
W arrenton, Va., 160. 
Washington, D. C, 23, 24, 279, 281. 
Washington, Pa.. 301. 
Washington College, 301, 417. 
Washington County, Pa., 6, 8, 202, 355 
Waynesburg, Pa., 206, 289-290, 497. 
Wheatfield (Gettysburg), 102, 114. 
White House, Va., 202. 
White Oak Road. 258, 260. 
White, Mrs. John M., 497. 
Wier, Hugh, 106. 
Wilcox. Ella. 1. 
Wilderness, Va., battles of, 176, 192, 

losses in. 181. 
Wilderness Tavern, 178. 
Williamsport, Md., 128, 147. 
Wilmington. N. C, 248. 
Wilson, Dr. Samuel J., 2. 

Lieutenant W r . O., 68. 
Lieutenant Alex., 105, 106. 
Captain' J. F., 105, 256, 399, 

444- 
Wishart. Surgeon J 
Women's Auxiliary 



159. 



35o; 



Wilson, 
Wilson, 
Wilson, 



400, 



W., 239, 354, 380. 
Association, 497. 



Zig-zag through Virginia, 242. 

Zook, General S. K., 26, 59, 73, 102, no, 

306, 446. 
Zook's (3rd) Brigade, 85, 102, in, 361 

363- 
Zook's Monument (Gettysburg), 102. 



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